The Island
by MidNiteRamblings
Summary: Two girls, alone the night the world ends. On the complete opposite side of the country from home, how will Bella and her Irish twin Alice get to the island and safety? One rule has kept them alive: Watch each others' back. When a pair of handsome strangers finds them, the choices they make could save them all; or kill the sisters before they return to their loved ones. AU,AH
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.**__ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!_

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Bella: Summer 2007

Alice meanders ahead of me, squinting at the bright sky. "It's hot."

"Thank you Captain Obvious." I grumble.

It's Missouri in June. Well, I think it's June. At least I'm certain we're in Missouri. Time got away from me at some point over the winter. We were trapped in a basement for a few weeks. I am certain we lost at least a few days, maybe weeks. I know we got our days and nights mixed up. We'd been snowed in, and when we finally emerged one morning, it was night outside. Location was easier, with most highway and street signs intact.

Now we are heading vaguely North West, destination Grandpa Swan's island. The island was once my grandpa's pride and joy. He had bought it in share with a group of high school friends. As his buddies used the island less and less, he was able to purchase larger pieces of the property; he spent nearly forty years collecting the deeds. He had finally claimed the last just before his sixtieth birthday. A car accident claimed his life, and tore our family apart, just five years later. Partially completed renovations had fallen to my father, who rarely had time off from work. He detested using vacation time and entrusting his beloved town to "Thing One" and "Thing Two". The private nickname he'd used for his nearly incompetent deputies had always made Alice giggle.

Though we had a specific destination in mind, it was best to avoid cities and major roads. After the world ended, densely populated areas were a death sentence. So we stuck to small towns and back roads. Specific routes and plans always backfired. It had taken us just over two years to get this far. Our journey started in Jacksonville, Florida. Sometimes I felt like we were no closer to home, to our father, than we were the night the shit hit the fan.

"No, I mean, it's ridiculously hot. You're still wearing long sleeves and pants. How are you not burning up?" Alice continued. At five foot three to my five foot ten, we Swan sisters make quite the striking pair. While Alice is petite, curvy, and cute; I'm tall, athletic, and snarky.

"I am more comfortable this way. Keeps the sun off my skin." While our height difference is pronounced, we share dark brown hair and eyes we inherited from our father. Our mother passed on her smile and fair skin. Skin fair enough to burn in dead winter.

Alice has an answer for everything, "Sunscreen, duh."

"Sunscreen expires," I mutter halfheartedly. I am saved from having to change right here and slather up by a rustling in the over grown weeds to the left of the county road we're following.

Anxiously, we wait for further movement. Years on the road has trained us to be hyper aware of our surroundings. Death could come at any moment, and we could not afford a single mistake. After several minutes pass we begin moving again. By unspoken agreement, we remain quiet and pick up the pace. We've made good progress over the past few weeks. Nonetheless, exhausted doesn't even begin to describe the way we feel. So Ali convinces me to find a place to rest for a few days. Can't say she really had to twist my arm, we've gathered enough food and water to last a few days at least. I felt like I could sleep for years.

A few hours of intermittent jogging and walking later, we find ourselves near the end of County Rd 240. "Hmm," Alice mused, "I have a good feeling about this place."

Standing at the start of a long gravel driveway, I stare dubiously at the rundown double-wide trailer nestled deeply in the foliage about a half mile away. Mostly hidden from the road, we would have missed it entirely if we hadn't been walking. Weeds had grown over either side of the driveway, the mailbox had fallen over and lay in the grass, Alice had stopped and was staring at the faded letters on the side of the metal post box. Spooner. The Spooner's had lived here, before the world ended.

As much as I wanted to continue down the road in the hopes of a more comfortable place to stay, I had learned not to ignore my sister's "feelings". Her hit and miss precognition had saved our lives more often than I could count.

"It doesn't look like anyone has been here in a while. That could be a good thing. Let's check it out." I drew my pistol and checked the clip. Only five shots left. I harnessed the gun, leaving my vest open so I could access it quickly.

Gripping my trusty aluminum baseball bat tightly with both hands, I lead the way onto the old wooden deck. Ali brings up the rear with a crowbar in one hand, her other hand hooked through the back of my jeans. This way, back to back, we have eyes everywhere.

_Clack clack, clik clack_

The sound causes me to jump and spin, Alice moves in reaction behind me, sliding her left foot back where my right moves forward. The action turns her as I face the threat, allowing her to keep her back to me, so she may continue keeping an eye on our surroundings while I assess the danger.

"It's just a dog." I mutter over my shoulder, keeping both eyes on the giant in front of me.

I feel Ali relax infinitesimally behind me. The dog stares at me, beady eyes contemplating my fate as he glares up at me. I am enthralled, he is absolutely beautiful. With a head as big as mine, and long lean muscles, this gargantuan is a beautiful specimen of Rottweiler. His short fur is ratty and matted in places and he sports a few scars that speak of a tough life, but his posture and strength speak of a greater character than most of the humans I've encountered in the last two years. His intelligent eyes widen slightly at the sound of my voice, his ears perking at the noise.

Then he makes his move. With two leaps, he is in front of me. He jumps; both paws landing on my shoulders as he licks my _entire_ face in one go. Standing on his hind legs, with his paws on me he is able to look directly into my eyes and give me a huge, slobbery, doggy grin. Leaning as far back as I can, I glared at the heavy beast while Alice snickers behind me.

"Get off!" I gasp, pushing at him even as he jumps down, circling me to maul Alice. At least she has the good sense to kneel down and give him easy access. I wipe my face on my sleeve as the dog licks the back of Alice's head, knocking off her hat and causing her short hair to stick up in crazy spikes.

Alice is laughing; her smile reminding me of Renee. "I can't believe you yelped! He's just a big baby! Such a good boy, aren't ya?" She continued in that weird dog speak people use when talking to the furry creatures as she pats him happily. The dog continues to circle Alice, wagging his whole body along with his long thick tail. That tails whips against my legs while the dog and Ali become fast friends.

"I did not yelp." I deny under my breath, as my eyes scanned the trees in all directions. This little meeting could have attracted unwanted attention.

Alice, unsurprisingly, is paying no mind. "What should we call him?"

"Oh Ali, we can't keep him!" Camping in the woods with no protection sucks. Camping in the woods with a dog that may or may not start barking at any moment and bring a bunch of Zeds down on us? Nuh-uh.

Then again, he could be a very effective warning system. In a pinch, he could be bait. It would break Alice's heart, but I would do _anything_ to keep her alive. Charlie was going to the island, and that is where we are going. I swore we would make it home.

I could already see the tears gathering in the corners of Alice's eyes, and before she could get really worked up, I begrudgingly submitted.

"We'll call him Banjo." She said.

"What kind of name is Banjo?" Let's name the dog after an instrument. I will never understand what goes on in Alice's brain.

"Well, we found him in the boonies." We both have a good laugh about that before I remember where we are and what we are doing. What was I thinking? I had let my guard down. Mistakes like that get you killed. After another quick scan of the yard and the trees that surround it, I try the front door.

Unsurprisingly, it's locked. I trade Alice my bat for her crowbar and break the lock. This is the kind of thing I never would have pictured myself doing. Breaking and entering was now the least of my worries, and it certainly wouldn't be the last time I stole to survive.

Inside, the living room smells musty and stale. That is a good sign. We make quick work of checking every room, closet, pantry, and cupboard for anything alive, dead, or edible. We are in luck. The house is empty.

I checked the damage to the door. Fortunately only the knob had been locked when I broke in, so I was able to use the deadbolt to lock it and keep it closed.

I found Alice in the kitchen, "Look what I found Banjo!" She exclaimed, showing a large, unopened bag of dog food inside of a plastic tote at the end of the counter to her new pet. "Do you think it's still good?"

"Give him some. If he eats it, then he'll probably be alright. We've eaten food past the expiration date. Just make sure it's not moldy or anything." A few of the cupboards are open, and I busy myself checking the rest while Alice finds a bowl and feeds Banjo.

When the cupboards turn up nothing, I check the pantry. It's starting to get dark, and it's hard to see. I have to reach into the shelves and feel along their surface. This used to give me the creeps, what if I touched a spider? My tough girl facade crumbles in the face of spiders. The way they move... eugh. Spiders are my kryptonite.

Or were. I have more important things to worry about now.

When my search proves fruitless, I return to Alice. She has unrolled our sleeping bags on the floor of the laundry room. Whenever possible, we sleep in a room with no windows. This just happens to be the only room with no windows. We each eat a package of dry ramen noodles from our meager supplies, then settle down for the night.

I wait until Alice falls asleep, and then move my sleeping bag in front of the door. Alice can't fall asleep without me close, and I can't fall asleep without setting up a warning system of some kind. I'll be the first one to know if this door opens.

After what seems like hours, I fall into an uneasy sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

__**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.**____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

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Bella: Fall 2005

_"What about the blonde?" Alice asks._

_I don't even bother lifting my eyes from the pages of my book. "He's cute I guess."_

_I can almost feel Alice's eyes roll at me._

_"You didn't even look," she whines, "You can read on the plane on the way home. People watch with me."_

_This time, I roll my eyes. "People watching and boy watching are not the same thing." For once, I am outside reading and there is plenty of light with no chance of dampening the pages of my favorite book. We relax in chaise lounges a few dozen feet from where the waves break on the bright sand._

_The warm September sun bathing my skin is heavenly. The beautiful weather in Florida this week feels like fate. Summer renovations of our high school were expected to take a whole month and a half longer than planned. Good news for students and this (now extra-long) summer, though I am not looking forward to next year's dramatically shortened break._

_The elementary school was not similarly affected, and so Renee still had to work. With a few weeks of extra chores, and plenty of groveling, we were finally able to convince our mother and father to allow us a beach side retreat._

_On one condition, we stay with our brother. Mary Alice hadn't had a problem with it, and as she had concocted this whole plan, I went along with it._

_So now, here we are, slathered in sunblock on an unseasonably warm fall day. At the beach, apparently the last place Emmett wants to be._

_"C'mon, neither of you are ever going to get a tan anyway, so let's get those booties up off that blanket and head on home." Even Emmett knows of the dangers of our pale white skin. Emmett claps his hands together, jumping to his feet and waving his arms towards his beloved Jeep while attempting to usher us out of our little slice of heaven._

_"To do what, exactly? Sit on the couch and watch lame action movies from the 80's?" Mary Alice drags her eyes away from the barely clad boys she's been examining since they arrived nearly fifteen minutes ago. She subtly adjusts her bikini top and slides her sunglasses to the top of her head so she can properly glare at our brother._

_Emmett rolls his eyes, "First off, you can never go wrong with Lethal Weapon. Secondly, anywhere I don't have to watch perverts creeping on my fifteen and sixteen-year-old sisters certainly sounds like nirvana right now. I would rather watch golf on T.V."_

_"Party pooper." Alice grumbles, pulling her sundress back on before using Emmett to pull herself to a standing position, "You're like, nine foot ten and four hundred pounds. No one will even talk to us, let alone try to hurt us with you lurking about, glaring at them."_

_The flabbergasted expression on Emmett's face brings on a round of giggles and I don my own sundress, pointlessly beating sand out of my sandals. So I can put them back on, walk through the sand, and refill them of course._

_"I'm not four hundred pounds," he whines, "I don't look that big do I Belly?" When he looks at me with that pouty lip sticking out, big brown eyes all wide with false distress, I can't help the snort that escapes._

_"Of course you're not four hundred pounds. You're just big boned." Emmett is four years older than me. Charlie and Renee became his legal guardians after his parents' death. They adopted him, officially, when he was ten. My older cousin, brother, and best friend had abandoned me to move here shortly after he graduated high school. He couldn't get out of Forks fast enough. Can't say I blame him._

_Back then, he'd been just a tall, lanky kid. In two years, he had become a physical therapist. He was no longer all elbows and knees, but had put on nearly forty pounds of muscle; I almost didn't recognize him coming off the plane. Good thing his smile and trademark left dimple remained the same._

_He shook his head at me, displaying his best deeply betrayed expression, "Oh you are done for." As he grabs me around the neck, I give a very undignified squawk as he holds me in place to tickle me with his free hand. Through a lifetime of practice, he knows all my weak spots._

_I laugh hard, until tears stream down my cheeks. My whole body shakes as I am wracked with uncontrollable, obnoxious laughter. The belly laughs that earned me my nickname, Belly. "Em, stop!" I gasp._

_I can feel his chest rumble through his own laughter._

_"Em, stop!" I can barely breathe. It feels like there is a heavy weight on my chest._

_"God Emmett, you stink." I try to push his arm off of me, but instead of feeling flesh beneath my groping fingers, my hands tangle with fur._

Bella: Summer 2007

"Eugh!" I groan sitting up, shoving the dog off me. For a moment, I am majorly disoriented. It's been so long since we lost Emmett, but I can still hear his laughter in my ears. I am struck with homesickness so strong my mind reels. The memory has left me shaken.

"I am not your pillow." I grouse, glaring at Banjo, who in turn, stares at the door. His chest gives another low rumble, and it is then that I realize he is growling. With good reason, it seems there is someone in the house.

My heart races as I crawl quickly and quietly to Alice, I slip a hand over her mouth and hurriedly shake her shoulder. Her eyes pop open and I motion for her to keep quiet. We arm ourselves, me with my pistol and bat, Alice has her crowbar. I'm pretty sure she sleeps with it. We remain silent, and I practically hold my breath, straining my ears for any sound, Alice ducks down in a tiny space behind the washer, while I hide behind the door. Banjo plops himself down in the middle of the room and we wait.

The last humans we encountered tried to eat us. I will not be taking any chances.

Jasper

"Nothing!" I bitch, slamming another empty cabinet door shut, "Not a fucking morsel!" It has been three days since we last ate. With my injury, I am already weak. We have been fortunate to come across several wells, and though we did not want for water, we needed food fast. My stomach clenches painfully as if to illustrate the point. "Fuck!"

We were awoken by the undead at a ridiculously early hour this morning, the sun hadn't even thought about rising. After killing the Zeds (okay, after I watched Edward kill the Zeds) we packed up camp and moved on. We were already up right? This was the third house we'd searched, and it was only mid-morning.

Dragging myself to a standing position, I use my makeshift crutch to limp my way to my roommate and cousin. Edward was on the other side of the dining room, searching the pantry. The grim lines on his face answer my unasked question.

"Let's check the bedrooms and move on." I grumble.

"You stay here," Edward gives me that _no-nonsense-this-is-life-or-death_ expression I've become so accustomed to, "I'll check the bedrooms." Yeah, I can't really run, so this makes sense. It still wounds my ego. I survived the infection, and I'm on the mend; soon I'll be able to give Edward a much needed break.

Clutching his golf club tightly, Edward approaches the first door he sees; just beyond the kitchen where he can still see me. "What's behind Door Number One?" He pushes the door inward, and a large figure steps slowly out.

The massive Rottweiler growls furiously, his entire presence filling the tiny hallway room in which he was locked. "Holy shit!" Edward gasps. Lowering the golf club, he tries to relax his stance to seem like less of a threat.

Before he can say anything, a woman steps from behind the door, a gun leveled directly at Edward's head. Her hand is steady.

"Ali, there's another one!" She calls over her shoulder, and a spritely creature with beautiful big brown eyes and cropped brown hair follows the first out of the room. She crosses the kitchen and dining room to where I sit, brandishing a crowbar.

"Hand over your weapons and bag." The pixie demands.

"No." Edward says calmly.

The chick with the gun narrows her eyes at him, "No? Do you have a death wish?" She asks, waving the gun in his face, "Gives us your shit or I shoot you."

"Go ahead." Edward lifts his chin defiantly, "I'd rather eat a bullet than finish starving to death."


	3. Chapter 3

__Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

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Jasper: Summer 2007

The chick with the gun narrows her eyes at Edward, waving her weapon in his face while threatening him. I can easily take Shortstuff here, regardless of my injury. She is a waif of a girl, and the crowbar in her hands shakes almost imperceptibly. Nonetheless, there is no way I'd take down Pipsqueak, and get to the crazy gun wielding broad before she blows my cousin's brains out.

_Shit._

"Go ahead." Edward lifts his chin defiantly, "I'd rather eat a bullet than finish starving to death."

_Oh God. _I cannot live in this world alone, it's impossible to survive and stay sane by oneself in this world. Edward is the only thing grounding me, giving me hope, urging me onward. _Home._

_Mom. Dad. Rosalie._

Now it seems Edward will never make it home. _I hope they kill me too._

"Bella." The tiny thing in front of me mutters.

"What?!" The other girl snaps. She's agitated, shifting from foot to foot, and shoving stray hair out of her face repeatedly. She seems totally unhinged, petrified in fact, though the gun remains steady and trained point blank on Edward's forehead.

For his part, Edward seems calm. His face is a mask of indifference. He has dropped his golf club, and holds his hands out at waist height, open and away from his body. Though he appears serene, his eyes betray him. The slight crinkling in the corners display his anger. He is not ready to die. _Don't do something stupid Edward!_

"Please." Tiny speaks again, "This doesn't feel right."

Gunny scoffs, rolling her eyes. "Another feeling Ali?"

"Yes." She gasps, exasperated. "You're not a killer Bella. Neither am I. Maybe they can help us get home. Survival is in the numbers right?"

Bella

I sigh, eyeing the guy in front of me as I slowly lower my gun. "Relax, it's not even loaded."

For a moment, time stands still. An unseen force builds around us, an electricity charging the air as Cow Licks processes this comment, then he explodes, "What the fuck?! You were threatening to kill me and you don't even have any bullets, what is wrong with you?" After a brief pause, he rakes his hands through his hair, making it stand on end as he continues to gripe to himself, "What is wrong with me? She's a buck ten tops, waving around an empty gun, and I'm about to piss my pants…"

I shrink back against the wall in the tiny slice of hallway we were sharing just fine with a gun between us. Now, this ranting and raving lunatic seems to fill every spare centimeter of the space, sucking the oxygen and light away. His proximity makes my head swim and my knees tremble.

"You think I'm gonna waste bullets on you when the walking dead want to chow on me and my sister? You _must _be insane. That empty gun sure as hell got your attention-."

"Guys?" Ali attempts.

ChiaPet rounds on me again, "My _attention_? Oh, you _have _my attention Missy-."

"Don't you dare call me Missy-!"

"SHUT UP!" We both stop, turning to stare agape at the little girl with blow horn lungs on the other side of the dining room. Once she is certain of our attention, Alice smiles angelically, "You are both being noisy as fuck and I, personally, would like to eat breakfast _before_ fighting off the undead hordes."

My heart thunders in my ribcage and my blood boils beneath my skin. I grit my teeth and take several deep breaths in an effort to calm myself. When my darling little sister had to be the reasonable one, I knew I needed to take a step back.

Really the situation was ridiculous. We were fighting over whether or not one should _lie_ to a person they are trying to _intimidate. _I just can't understand how he got me so riled up, so quickly, over something so inane.

So, like the overwhelmingly mature adult I am, I stomped past Bad Hair Day and Banjo, back into the laundry room to grab Alice's bag. Then I made my way back into the dining room, only to find Alice helping Blondie into a chair at the table.

"So, granola bars, powdered milk,-" The two men stare at the items I pull from the bag, an uncomfortable ache in my chest reminds me that I am still capable of normal societal emotions. I am startled by the bout of sympathy. "-water, and freshly picked elderberries." While fresh elderberries can make you ill in large quantities, in moderation, they can be a delicious treat. Now, shared four ways, there was very little chance of anyone getting sick from them.

The last item was a surprise for Alice. I'd spotted the newly ripened fruit while waiting for Ali to change. She'd had an unfortunate visit from Mother Nature, and we just could not wander around smelling like fresh blood. Just one of many sad truths women face after the end of the world. I picked as many as I could and stowed them away for today, I thought she might need cheering up.

Alice used to have fresh fruit with breakfast every morning.

Alice's eyes widen, "No way!" She gasps, leaning forward she snatches a berry out of my hand. Before she can put it in her mouth however, Blondie smacks the berry away.

"You can't know that's safe!" He shouts, looking horrified that Alice had almost poisoned herself.

I scoff, "You've never had elderberry wine? Or elderberry jams?"

He trains his cool blue eyes on me, "I know elderberries are edible, I meant, how are you certain _these_ are elderberries?"

Alice just smiled, "Daddy was an outdoorsman. He loved to hunt and live off the land. I hated that stuff, but he and Bella would go camping for a few weeks every summer. Like deep woods, nothing but a tarp camping. If she says it's safe, it is." This time, Alice is successful at popping a berry into her mouth, moaning as she bites into it. "That's really sweet!" She grins at me, before glancing worriedly at our uninvited guests.

"Look," She said, "We're not dangerous. We won't hurt you if we don't have to. We just wanna get home. I propose we stick together until we've gathered enough supplies to go our separate ways. I'm Alice, this is my sister Bella. We're headed to Washington. The state, not the Capital."

I'm uncomfortable with the overshare, but that's the way Alice has always been. At least she slowed her speech enough for them to understand. Her usual mile-a-minute approach gives even me a headache, and I should be immune to it by now.

I'm also uncomfortable sharing our food and hanging out with strangers. Protesting isn't worth my time or effort, however, Alice's _feelings_ had saved our lives hundreds of times over. I wasn't about to start betting against her. Plus, you just don't win an argument with Mary Alice Swan.

Also, Bad Hair Day is giving me the creeps, glaring at me from across the table. Of course, I _was_ just waving a gun in his face.

Alice pushes half the berries and a couple granola bars over the table. Blondie grabbed and tore a wrapper open, downing the whole bar in one bite. The other two occupants of the room and I stare at him astonished, unsurprised when he starts choking. I wordlessly hand over a bottle of freshly mixed powdered milk, and after three gulps, he slowly regains his color. "Hungry." He mutters sheepishly, color flaring high in his cheeks.

Alice is the first to laugh; her high pitched giggle causes the smile to crack across my own face, as Bad Hair Day chuckles and Blondie has a good-humored laugh at his own expense. After a few minutes in which the group scarfs down their meager meal, Sonic the Hedgehog finally speaks, "I'm Edward, and this is my cousin Jasper. We're headed to Seattle. So we might as well stick together."

Banjo, who had chosen a spot right by the back door, lifts his head as a low growl reverberates through his chest. Immediately on alert, I rise quietly. Grabbing my bat from where I'd left it by the door to our temporary bedroom; I make my way over to a window catty-corner to where Banjo stands at attention. A quick peek confirms my suspicions.

I return to the dining room where I find the occupants preparing to flee; checking weapons and inventorying bags.

"Looks like we don't have a choice. There are six or seven zombies about fifty yards from the house. Definitely heading straight for us. We've got to move."

"Did you check the front?" Edward blurts, staring at me again as I reload my gun. _Oh wait, it's the gun again._

Under his scrutiny, I'm embarrassed to admit I hadn't yet. He's already wearing his backpack and I'm still repacking mine in a hurry, so he takes care of it.

He returns with bad news. "There are several more zeds out front, too many to make a break for it. We'll have to go out the back. Now."

We rush to the back room and crack the door. The zeds are still a ways off; we have a very narrow window of time in which to get past them.

Edward goes first, forcing the uncooperative sliding door open far enough to squeeze through. Only he doesn't squeeze through. He falls, seven feet, to the solid packed earth below.

In our haste, we all fail to notice the lack of stairs; and with Jasper's twisted ankle, jumping is not an option.


	4. Chapter 4

__Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it. I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

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Bella: Summer 2007

Edward goes first, forcing the old sliding door open far enough to squeeze through. Only he doesn't squeeze through. He falls to the solid packed earth below.

I completely missed the obvious construction signs, the wooden planks and tools near the back door I'd thought were for boarding up windows were probably meant for the back porch and stairs. The long shallow hill beyond starts several feet below the door, ending in trees a few hundred yards away; with a road to our left and farmland to the right. _That's a sorry looking crop of corn._ Mostly knee high, in some places the stalks would be well over my head. Definitely not safe, and neither are the trees, honestly.

The sound of Edward's landing and following involuntary groans attract the attention of our not-so-friendly neighbors.

_Shit._

I turn quickly to my sister and Jasper, a plan already on my tongue. Before I can get the first word out, Banjo shoves past me and leaps out the door.

_Huh, guess Edward makes a good landing pad_.

After sniffing the winded man and giving him a lick across his face, Banjo takes off straight for the zombies.

He races over to a blonde woman in a bathrobe and barks, baiting her into following him. Running in circles he captures the attention of the other three, _herding_ the zombies away.

For the second time in as many days, I am absolutely flabbergasted by this dog.

"_Banjo!"_ Alice gasps, her heart already breaking over an animal we've known very briefly.

I grab her chin, forcing her to look at me. "Focus," I whisper harshly, "You, then Jasper, then me. Okay? You'll hang on to me and Edward will help you jump the rest of the way. It's not that far. Just caught us by surprise, but we've got to move." My words are punctuated by the creaks and thumps of several pairs of feet on the front porch. "Now."

I push her back to the opening, bracing one foot on the wall, and one on the door, I grip Alice's hands as she leans backwards out the door. Then she jumps, and Jasper grasps me around the waist to steady us. When Alice stops swinging, I release her.

Pausing only briefly to check that she made it, I turn to speak to the man whose arms still encase me.

"No." He says calmly, ice blue eyes met mine with a stubbornness I recognized in myself, "You first. I'm too heavy for you. That bat would be useless with a dislocated shoulder. I can lower myself, and my ankle will have a much softer landing with three of you cushioning my fall."

The moans out front grow louder as the zeds outside begin bashing the doors and windows. Most are boarded up, but I would not trust the lock on the front door.

_Fuck._

I quit arguing, grab his hands, and drop down. The world spins briefly, before I hear the crash of splintering wood and the tinkling of shattering glass. Jasper suddenly releases my hands. The sounds of the living dead inside the house become a dull roar, the strange raspy groans and shuffling thumps sound just as terrifying as the first time I heard those sounds.

_Double fuck._

My feet hit the ground, and my ankles protest. I bite back my yelp of pain and immediately crane my neck. Alice is handing me my bat, automatically assuming her position at my back.

I expect to see Jasper's feet. He has already thrown his bag out, but he has not made an appearance.

Edward's face is tense. He alternates between staring anxiously at the house and scanning the direction Banjo and his new zed friends have gone. There is a loud whine, and with an angry shriek, the sliding glass door shuts. "What the fuck Jazz?" Edward groans.

Standing behind this sort-of house, with a long open field in front of us leaves me feeling very exposed. I do not like this at all.

On the other hand, with no sight of Banjo or Jasper, I knew neither of my companions would be easily persuaded to move. I decide to give our acquaintances a few minutes to appear. With the obvious exception of a zombie, we can afford some time to catch our breath.

We just have to avoid attracting the attention of the zombies _inside_ the house. I motion Alice and Edward over to a group of trees on the right side of the house, we crouch down amongst the bushes at the base of the trees, where we are mostly hidden from view, and wait.

Alice's sharp intake of breath alarms me, and I turn. For the first time in what feels like millennia, Alice doesn't turn with me to watch my back.

"Jasper!" She cries as the man in question comes limping swiftly around the farthest corner of the house.

"What the hell Jazz?" Edward grumbles, mock glaring at his cousin, though the obvious relief in his voice gives him away. It's evident they depend on each other, like me and Ali.

Alice takes the cake though, punching Jasper in the arm, "Don't _ever_ do that again. I was terrified for you! How did you get out?"

Jasper collapses into a sitting position; he is noticeably out of breath and needs a few minutes to rest. I hand him a water bottle and then keep watch with Edward. Alice sits next to him, she offers to rewrap the bandage on Jasper's ankle, but he is very defensive of the wound, adamantly insisting its fine. Alice drops the subject, but I can't shake my suspicions.

After a few minutes, we head through the corn, avoiding areas where it's taller than knee high. We make our way back to the road and pick a direction at random as Jasper shares his story.

After the dead broke in, he realized they would just follow him out the open back door. He slammed the door shut and was able to barricade himself into the master bedroom.

"I knocked over the dresser." He explained, "It was huge and fucking heavy, I pushed it at an angle on the ground right up to the door so it was wedged against the wall. I was able to get out through the window and limp my happy ass after you."

Only a few miles between us and that death trap home and we're moving at an almost leisurely speed; the hurried pace we set after the house has worn us out. While we weren't ready to stop moving, we had slowed down. A lot.

While circumventing major roads and towns was great for avoiding the undead, it was not easy to scavenge anything. Most places had been looted already, and what food was left had usually expired. We weren't ashamed to eat expired goods, so long as it looked fine. _Never_ open a can that looks bloated. _Double eugh!_

Once in a while, we get lucky. Today is one of those days.

First, we all made it out of that house alive. Then, we found a home that hadn't been looted, with a full and untouched pantry, Alice called it fate. I called it doom.

We just could not have a day this close to "nice".

As a general rule of thumb, we stay in the most inaccessible part of a house. This house happened to have an attic with retractable stairs. Perfect.

The boys are fine with our usual plan, and we agreed to stay here for a few days. Alice desperately needs that break she never got, and Jasper's foot won't get any better walking on it non-stop. We set about blocking all the exits, locking and covering the windows and doors. Edward and I are able to move a couple of twin mattresses up to the attic, and Alice moves most of the food up into our hidey-hole.

At night, we'll be able to pull up the stairs and sleep comfortably without the fear of something creeping in. By storing food and water, we'll be able to stay up here for days in a pinch.

Still, as we go to bed that night, with blissfully full bellies on sort-of comfortable beds, I can't shake my unease.

Bella: Fall 2005

Sitting in an uncomfortable recliner, my eyes roam about the room. Mismatched couch and chairs, _check. _Large entertainment center and T.V., _check._ Emmett's living room screams bachelor.

Then I spot a picture frame on the end table to my right. It's the folding kind, with room for two pictures. One side of the frame contained a picture of his parents on their wedding day. The other picture is one of me and Alice from his high school graduation. I can't help but smile, it's one of the few photos of myself I actually like. Alice looks gorgeous as always, we actually look a lot like the twins people often assume we are.

This evening, Mary Alice and I are "home alone". It's Tuesday September 13, 2005. Emmett always visits the home on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. When he works on those days, he goes in early or stays late to see her. He's very devoted to his grandma. Mary Louise Vega-McCarty is Em's only living relative on his dad's side. When she was diagnosed with Parkinson's, he was devastated. He moved to Florida to help take care of her when she could no longer live on her own. She was the reason he'd gotten into his line of work.

My sister and I haven't minded the reprieve from his antics the past week, but the news lately has been terrifying. Over just the past few weeks, an unknown and highly contagious pneumonic virus has decimated populations all over the world.

Death tolls were said to be as high as 80% of the population in some areas. All international travel had been halted a week ago, followed almost immediately by interstate travel the day before our flight home. We were now stranded with our cousin and would not be going home any time soon.

Ali and I are glued to the couch; all the windows and doors are locked. So far, Emmett's neighborhood has been left untouched. The relatively small town remains unaffected by the illness, and by the looting that follows. With all the lights off, windows and doors locked, we are about as safe as we can be.

The news flashes images of different southwestern cities, all in various states of anarchy. Phoenix, Sacramento, Albuquerque...

The footage of burning buildings, wrecked cars, and abandoned pets continues on and on. The scariest images of all are the grainy, blurry cell phone shots of what appears to be people eating people, blood and organs staining the streets.

Needless to say, we would feel much safer if Emmett was home.

The emergency broadcast we are watching hasn't changed in hours, the same newscaster and video roll over and over again. My instincts tell me this is not a good sign. I start pacing out my nervous energy.

When the power goes out, ice water runs through my veins as darkness surrounds us.

The sudden quiet of the now dead TV is deafening. My racing heart and Mary Alice's sharp breaths are the only sounds I hear. It's pitch black in the living room, I did not notice how late it had gotten.

Where the hell is Emmett?


	5. Chapter 5

__Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Bella: Summer 2007

I awake with an urgent need to pee.

The attic is stuffy and humid. I have no idea how I slept so late, scrunched onto that twin mattress with my younger sister. How someone so small could take up so much space baffles me.

I untangle myself from Alice's wayward limbs and quickly dress. I briefly contemplate the bucket in the corner, stowed there in case of emergency, and quickly change my mind. Not unless I _have _to. I descend the ladder to the house, before pushing it back up, gathering my trusty bat from its place against the hallway wall, I cautiously creep downstairs.

I don't hear or _smell_ anything foul in my brief perusal of the downstairs before I hurry out the back door, over the short expanse of porch, and down the stairs. My foot makes contact with something soft instead of a stair and I promptly face plant.

As I gather my bearings and spit dirt from my mouth, I hear boisterous laughter. I am winded, my eyes are watering, my pride is aching, and someone is _laughing_ at me. My face flames and I am surely the color of a tomato. Drawing my knees up to examine them for scrapes, I groan as I'm reminded of my bursting bladder, momentarily distracted from my embarrassment.

A shadow falls over my legs as a large, wet, slimy tongue slathers my face. I shove the beast away and give him my most menacing glare. Banjo, the occupant of the stair I had tried to walk on. "I don't know where you went, but don't think I missed you." I can't help but pet him as he nudges my hand with his head. I roll my eyes, "Alice will be happy to see you though."

"Smart dog." I'm startled by the voice, and look up. Right into Edward's brilliant green eyes. He's towering over me, but the midmorning sun catches him full in the face, lighting his eyes and defining his features. He is stunning.

"He led those zombies away, lost them, and tracked us here." I'm gaping at him, dumbfounded, and it's a very long moment before I notice the hand he's offering me.

"Uh yeah." I mutter, taking his hand and allowing him to pull me to my feet. The skin to skin contact is the first time I've touched a living person other than Alice in years. My heart thumps rapidly in my chest and I attribute my body's response to hormones. Yeah, _hormones._ Being a teenager sucks apocalypse or not.

Being upright suddenly reminds me of a rather urgent matter. "I have to pee!" I blurt, my face flaming again as I mentally smack myself.

_Way to go spaz._

He grins, bemused, before offering to stand guard while I take care of my business. Ordinarily, I wouldn't trust a near stranger, but I really have to _go_. Alice could still be asleep for hours, she sleeps like the dead. Considering the possible alternatives, death by ankle-biter Barbie while I squat in the woods? No, not my idea of fun.

I choose a group of trees a bit of a distance from the house because they grow on the side of a hill. It's much easier to pee on a hill and not get my socks wet.

I peek over my shoulder to make sure Edward isn't watching, before I pull down my pants and take care of business. A few awkward minutes later, Edward and I head back to the house. The silence between us isn't awkward at all. _No really._

Banjo has dutifully stayed on the porch, as if he is guarding the occupants of the house. _Or waiting for Alice_, I thought, amused.

Even from outside, I could hear the arguing. Edward and I exchange glances and share a non-verbal agreement to tackle our respective family members, before we head back inside. Banjo follows us in and goes right to Ali. He works as the perfect distraction, Alice is overjoyed to see him and spends the next several minutes on the floor rubbing his belly and playing with him.

She and Jasper studiously ignore each other.

While we wash the camp gear after breakfast, and the boys hunt for fresh water, I bug Alice, but she won't breathe a word on the subject of their argument. Edward and Jasper have better luck on their mission than I, having found a well about a mile away. They'd used a wagon to haul back several gallons.

I asked Edward later, but Jasper wouldn't talk about it either.

I had hated Renee's reality TV shows, and the gossip exchanged at the only grocery store in Forks. I had detested the petty high school drama my classmates engaged in, the tabloids and glossy magazines other girls fawned over. Now, my first opportunity in years for gossip, squashed. I find myself surprisingly disappointed.

The next few days are much the same. Alice and Jasper speak to each other in clipped sentences, avoiding each other as best they can. We spent our time cooking, eating, gathering supplies from neighboring houses, cleaning, eating some more... On and on, until Jasper's leg healed, until days turned into weeks and possibly July turned into possibly August. I found myself spending a lot of my time with Edward. He shared my dry sense of humor, and he proved himself a more than capable zombie killer. My unreciprocated little crush is turning into something more. I'm not sure how I should feel about that.

One night over dinner, in the middle of a conversation of what we missed most about the Before, Edward and I had answered simultaneously, _music_; Jasper met Alice's eyes across the table.

"We need to move on." He says firmly, "We need to get a vehicle big enough for all of us and some supplies, but small enough to not be a target. We need to leave, soon, or we won't make any more progress before winter." He looks at Edward, his eyes begging his cousin to understand, "I need to know what happened to mom and dad. Sooner we get to Seattle… We can do this, the four of us. But we can't keep putting it off." This last comment was directed to Alice, who glared at him, her trademark pout adorning her adorable elfin features, "I've taken a look at Bella's maps. We're close to Columbia, and I know the town pretty well. I'm certain we can find everything we need."

Alice's eyes glitter with tears, her frustration always makes her cry, and her tears always get her what she wants. "Towns much smaller than Columbia are total death traps. Large population Before, large population of undead After."

"The infection started in the southwest, Columbia was evacuated and the population was funneled into various refugee camps." Jasper countered, "The place is probably a ghost town."

_Refugee camp_, I shudder remembering our time in one. It hadn't been long before the infection spread inside. People weren't prepared for the carnage, so many died in those first few weeks.

"You can't be the first person to have thought of that Jasper." Alice argued, "We just can't risk it!"

I watch closely as Jasper turns to Edward again, imploring him to join the argument. Edward groans before rubbing his hands over his face. "Jasper can do it. He's quick, and lucky, and he has a secret weapon."

Well I have a secret weapon of my own, "If he's going, then so am I."

I barely hear Alice's outraged gasp, suddenly caught suspended in time when Edward's eyes capture mine. I tear my gaze away, and it takes all my will power to focus on the subject and not the fleeting expression of horror I'd seen in their depths, and grasp Ali's hands across the table, "Have I ever let you down? We'll watch out for each other, right Jazz?" He nods solemnly.

"Besides, you're out numbered, three to one." Edward chimes in helpfully. My sister huffs irritably, scooting her chair back. The screech of metal on linoleum makes me cringe as she yanks her hand from mine, stomping upstairs and into the room she'd claimed after we blocked off the first floor.

"That went well." I roll my eyes at Edward's comment and follow my sister's example, heading off to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

__Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Alice: Fall 2007

Bella and Jasper have been gone a week already. If we are lucky, they will find a vehicle and plenty of supplies to get us all home. I've definitely had enough walking to last me a lifetime. With our food situation, I don't really need the extra exercise. I'd been slim before, but I'm much closer to skeletal now. It's kind of gross. What I wouldn't give for a chocolate shake to cool me off right now. Missouri is humid, miserable.

_Mmmmmmph, shiiik thump_

I tell myself to take a deep breath, inhaling through my mouth slowly and silently. I definitely don't want to smell the zed on the other side of the kitchen. Edward and I are searching homes near the farm house; we'd thought this particular house was empty.

Until I mistakenly opened the cellar door thinking it was a pantry. Just my luck Edward is on the second floor.

I tighten my grip on my crowbar, mentally debating my chances if I make a run for it. What would Bella do? _She'd jump out from behind the kitchen island and bash its brains in, coward._ I mentally scoff at myself. Bella has always been there for me, always looked out for me. She has rarely left my side since our ill-fated trip to Florida.

I've never had to kill a zombie before. I was just the look out, Bella kept us out of dangerous situations, and when she couldn't, she always got us out of trouble.

First time she leaves for more than a day, my first chance to prove I can take care of myself, and I'm stuck in a corner, crouching behind a cabinet while a single member of the undead masses stumbles around completely ignorant of my existence.

Despite all the lessons and practice Bella has forced upon me, I still can't summon the courage to kill it.

It was a _person_ once.

I _am_ a coward.

_Mmmmmmph, shiiik thump shiiik thump thump_

A sudden and loud whack followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor startles me. A couple loud blows later, Edward appears around the corner of the cabinet. He is spattered in old blood, and his golf club is dripping. I stare, unable to tear my eyes away from the black sludge slowly staining the wood beneath his feet.

"What the fuck?!" He shouts, glaring at me.

"I f-froze?" My stammer makes the sentence sound like a question. I duck my head in embarrassment.

"No shit." He grumbles, checking a few cupboards I obviously hadn't covered yet. "Find anything, Princess?"

I shake my head quickly, grumbling my response. "Some herbs and seasonings. Bella will love that. Nothing else really."

Edward just shrugs noncommittally. "We should get moving then. It's almost dark."

Dejected, both from my recent failure as a zombie hunter, and the slim pickings of this particular rural area. We start heading back to base, as Bella calls it. The trek would take a while; we'd wandered further every day.

Outside, it was gloomier than I thought it would be. My cowardice had cost us precious time. Edward and I exchanged a worried glance, and by unspoken agreement, we set off into the early twilight at a jog.

It isn't long before we begin to hear the telltale sounds of pursuit. It's pitch black outside, thanks to a new moon, and we can barely see by the light of the stars. I press a hand into the stitch in my side and force myself to put one foot in front of the other. _We're faster than they are. Keep up the pace until we get to safety._ I have heard it a thousand times in the past few years, and I know better than to waste breath on conversation. We don't talk, we just run.

We finally reach the farmhouse and race up the stairs, over the porch, and through the front door without pause. Edward stops only briefly to bolt the door before following me up to the attic stairs.

I am way too short to reach the little metal latch in the closet of the master bedroom, so I stay out of the way as Edward pulls the fold up stairs down. We rush into the attic, pulling the stairs up behind us. I collapse on one of the mattresses, gasping for air, tears of exertion stream down my face. My heart thunders and my legs quiver with the remnants of adrenaline. I gulp, trying to stem the flood of emotion before the tears become outright sobs.

I think of Banjo as glass shatters downstairs and moans echo up the hallways. The dead are inside the house, but Banjo will stay away. He's a smart dog, and he looks after himself. He has proven himself over the past few weeks; I know worrying about him is pointless.

Instead, my mind refuses to allow me rest as my thoughts turn to Bella… and the handsome blonde she's traveling with.

Bella

I shut and lock the door behind me as Jasper puts out the lanterns. It's time to head to bed. Tomorrow, we will be heading back to base to pick up Edward and Alice, and then we are home free.

Well, sort of. As home free as the thousands of miles between us and Washington and the dozens of things that could go wrong along the way as someone can be after the end of the world.

I mentally run over the contents of the cars in my head. We'd located two hatchbacks with plenty of storage space and loaded them both down with gas cans, batteries, food, and _toilet paper._ We would not be going without that particular luxury for a long while. The cars were gassed up and ready to go, parked in the garage of the townhome we were squatting in for the night. I observed Jasper as he looked through some of today's spoils. Sorting through the food and water, his eyes widen at my favorite score, a ten man tent; lots of room for on the run sleeping.

The suburbs in and around the northeast side of Columbia have been good to us. The city was mostly deserted, with only a few stray walkers. As it turns out, he'd been partway through his first year of college here, which is how he knew parts of the town so well.

I take a moment to reflect on the poor souls who had, undoubtedly, been shepherded to their doom in refugee camps. I wondered how Jasper and Edward had escaped that fate, but didn't want to ask.

Before Jasper can put out the last lamp, we hear a quiet, but deliberate, knock on the window.


	7. Chapter 7

__Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Bella: Fall 2007

_Tap tap_

I look at Jasper, my eyebrows quirked in surprise and apprehension. He nods to the window catty corner to the sound. I am closer.

Holding my breath, I creep to the window and carefully part the curtain. It's dark inside, only one lantern still lit on the other side of the room. It's even darker outside, thanks to an ill-timed new moon. I can't see anything but a couple of blobs in the shadowy recesses preceding the front door. I close the curtain carefully, certain not to make noticeable movements and shrug at Jasper.

"I think there are two." I mouth. He nods to show he understands me, before moving silently to the front door. He hands me my bat, raising an eyebrow and nodding towards my gun. I hand it over without question. I may not fully trust him, but at least I know him. Anyone could be on the other side of that door. At least I have someone watching my back. _Hopefully. _

_Tap tap_

This time, the sound comes from the actual door.

"We should open it, before they attract attention." I murmur. We haven't seen many walkers, but better to be safe than sorry.

I pull the door open, so Jasper can be ready with the gun. The wan light of the lantern illuminates the faces of a woman and child. She is a tall, striking blonde with blue eyes. Her clothes are dirty, her hair tangled, and her eyes are rimmed in red. She quivers in fear, running her hands up and down her trembling arms. The boy can't have been more than eight. With a sandy colored mop of curls and wide dark eyes, his pale face is drawn and thin. They are both obviously starving and in desperate need of help.

Great.

Jasper tells them to come in. Shutting and bolting the door behind them. I give him a look that I hope clearly conveys my extreme disapproval. People get you killed. That's why Alice and I stay away from them. I'm still not completely happy about the Jasper and Edward situation.

Jasper hasn't put the gun down. He ushers the strangers upstairs, into the master closet. It's huge, and the central most room. No windows, other rooms on all sides. We can talk without making too much noise. Brilliant.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Jasper demands.

The woman flinches at his harsh tone, "I'm Sarah, and this is Eli." The boy just watches us. His large eyes make his face appear skeletal. "Please, do you have any food?

Turns out, Jasper is a softy. _Who'd have thunk it?_ Admittedly, I couldn't turn down a hungry kid either. The woman however, I don't like how she's _watching_. Her eyes seem cold and calculating. Her quivering hasn't stopped, and she continues to fidget throughout their meal.

Later that night, before we head to bed, Jasper and I argue, "We can't bring them with us." I insist. I refuse to bring more strangers, more danger, to my sister.

We're unsure what to do with them, so Jasper locks them in the closet. There is only one door in or out, so we push a massive dresser in front. It wouldn't be easy to get out without us knowing about it.

We weren't unkind about the whole affair. We gave them food, water, bedding, a battery-powered lantern, and a bucket. I'd even offered a few books.

The rest of the night had come and gone, we slept in turns inside the cars, just in case we needed to make a quick getaway. In the light of day, things still weren't decided.

Over a breakfast of canned fruit, we discussed it yet again.

"When I think about leaving them here... I ask myself what my father would do. He is the most kind and compassionate man…" He pauses, lost in thought for a moment, "If he were here, he would say something very sage about humanity and God and the monster inside, and he would insist we do everything in our power to help them. I'm sorry Bella. I just can't."

Wow. He's got daddy on a pedestal, eh? Thinking of my father, I can understand his point. Charlie was my idol. Is. Charlie IS my idol.

"Tell me about him." At his confused expression, I continue, "Your dad. He sounds great."

He smiles, the edges of his cornflower blue eyes crinkling. "He is. I have a sister who died in infancy. She had a heart defect. My dad was about to become a doctor. He'd planned to be a general practitioner, like his father. Her death changed everything." He was staring at the ceiling. "He ended up changing his major, became a pediatric surgeon. There was nothing he could do for Angela, but he has saved so many others as a way to honor her memory."

The way one deals with tragedy speaks volumes of their character. Jasper's dad really is special.

I watch him for a moment, the silence of the night is deafening. Finally I ask, "Is he-?"

"I don't know. I hope not." He grimaces. "That's why we're heading home. I don't know what to expect when we get there, if anything. I don't really have any other destination. What else is there to do?"

I don't really have anything to say to that, so I return to our previous subject.

"Let's take them." He nods, a pleased expression crossing his face as he pulls himself out of the car.

When we get upstairs we move the dresser and cautiously open the door. I am completely unprepared for the gruesome contents of the closet.

There is blood, so much blood. I gag at the salt, rust, and earth stench that washes over me in a nausea inducing wave. My eyes water and I have trouble focusing on the details, all that blood…

Finally, I notice the boy, Eli, crouching in the corner. His eyes are wide and red-rimmed, he's clutching a pocket knife tightly, his knuckles white. We hadn't thought to search them before locking them up. Stupid.

Sarah is dead; the blood all appears to be hers. I find myself scanning every visible inch of Eli's skin. He appears to be unhurt, but he is shaking, crying, and obviously petrified. He stares, unblinking at the corpse, unable to turn away.

"Eli." When I say his name, his eyes snap to me. I recognize the fear there, the primal need to survive. Whatever had happened here, he didn't want to hurt Sarah. After a moment, I held my arms out to him. His face collapses as his body sags in relief. The knife drops from his hand as a sob breaks past his lips. Stumbling out of the closet, he falls into my arms.

It seems hours pass as he cries in my arms. I am only vaguely aware of Jasper taking care of the body, making sure it won't turn. I discover later that he simply shut the door and returned the dresser to its place in front of the closet.

When Eli finally calms, I lead him downstairs and into the kitchen. The sun is clawing its way over the horizon and the light slants through the holes in the blanket covering the kitchen window.

I put the plug in the sink and dump one precious gallon of water in. I clean him up as best I can with a washcloth from the bathroom, and then help him change clothes. He is nearly catatonic through the whole thing. He does as I ask him to, nothing more. My heart aches for him.

Lost in thought as I am, I don't notice him perusing me as well. "She was using me." He pauses, gauging my reaction. I nod to let him know I am listening, "She was a bad person. We lived with a bunch of bad people. They never let me eat. She wanted to kill you and take your food." He watches me; the sudden intensity comes as a bit of a surprise. "She was going to lead others to you. She was going to _kill _you."

I swallow hard, unable to imagine his suffering. I force a smile for him, hoping it's reassuring and not a horrible grimace instead, I gently brush the hair out of his face, "You saved me." When I notice Jasper in the doorway, I nod towards him, "You saved us." Eli just looks at Jasper with hollow eyes.

"We need to get moving. If what he says is true…" Jasper and I are in agreement and leave this horrid townhome in a hurry.

We decide to err in favor of safety, taking a long circuitous route back to base. It takes several days. It's hard to tell time without a calendar, so I can't be sure, but I think we've been gone about a week and a half. As annoying and needy as she can be, I miss Alice desperately.

I'm driving one car, laden with goods with Eli in the front seat; Jasper follows in the other car as we drive down the road leading to the farmhouse. It seems unnaturally quiet; I don't even hear any obnoxious cicadas. Banjo lounges at the end of the long driveway, and something about his presence here sends off warnings signals in my brain.

I stop the car, peering at the farmhouse closely. There is something white flapping out one of the attic windows. It's a sheet, a subtle warning that tells me Alice is in trouble. The broken windows on the first floor are another sign of horror and dread fills me. It's as if someone has dumped a bucket of ice water over my feverish skin. _Alice!_

Jasper leans out his window, whistling at me to get my attention. "What's up?" He mouths.

I walk over to his car, keeping my voice low, I crouch so he can hear me, "The house has been overrun. I think they may still be inside." His expression is serious as he regards the house.

"We need to stash the cars," he says, "and figure out a rescue plan."


	8. Chapter 8

__Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Alice: Fall 2007

Five days we've been trapped in this attic.

Boredom set in _five minutes_ after we pulled up the stairs. The humidity is stifling; the heat in here is unbearable. Not to mention the stench from our makeshift toilet. We have both taken to sitting outside.

While I fit through the attic window with ease, my slight figure finally coming in handy, Edward has a bit more trouble. We stay out of view of the zeds below, and hang out on the side of the house facing the backyard; the only side of the roof that gets any shade.

Going downstairs is pretty much unthinkable. We can hear the shuffles and moans of the undead quite clearly. With no way of scouting the house from up here, it is just strategically unmanageable. We could be lowering the stairs to dozens of undead. _No thank you._ We have plenty of food and water, for a while yet, but the endless hours leave plenty of time for my mind to wander.

_Where is Bella?_

I can perfectly envision a million and one ways for Bella and Jasper's little trip to go terribly wrong. The images so clear behind my eyelids that I can hardly stand to close my eyes. Sleep is nearly impossible. The more time passes, the more dreadful the scenarios I imagine. My patience is wearing thin, and Edward isn't fairing any better.

"What are you doing?" Edward asks. It's day two of confinement and I'm starting on Bella's List.

_Bella has always been there for me. She's always had my back. The few times she hasn't been with me since this started, Bella's List has had my back. A set of step by step survival instructions to help me survive until we reunite._

"_Step 1: Leave a clue. Preferably something obvious, so I don't miss it if I'm in a hurry."_

"_Breadcrumbs." I respond, "The house is overrun, they'll see that right away. We need to make sure Bella knows where we are, she needs a sign that we haven't left." I carefully tie a sheet to the corner of the window, throwing it outside onto the roof. It's not particularly windy today, so the sheet doesn't blow around, but it is draped over a good portion of the corner of the roof. With any luck, it's visible from the road._

The waiting game is driving me crazy.

I brush my hand across my forehead, wiping the sweat away so I can see clearly. The house is on a corner, at a three way intersection. I can watch the gravel road from here. Edward and I take turns walking the perimeter of the roof to check the driveway, paved road, and intersection. The driveway is ridiculously long, pitted and infested with weeds from lack of use, and the house is a good distance from the road. I wonder how Bella will even get to the house without damaging whatever car she found.

"_Step two: Prepare to Bug Out. Pack a bag with a few days' food and water. Pack a knife, blanket, lighter or matches, and a weapon. ONLY essentials. It needs to be light enough to carry for weeks Mary Alice. Sleep with it next to you. Take it with when you go outside. Live and breathe with that bag by your side." I packed two and sorted our other supplies, rationing our food and water to last three weeks. I hope that's more than enough time for Bella to make it back… before step three._

Lounging on a blanket in the shade of a massive old oak, I kick Edward in the foot. It's his turn to pace the roof. Groaning, he makes a show of dragging himself to his feet and dusting his clothes. Trudging off with a mildly disgruntled expression, he's barely gone for a moment before he pokes his head back around the corner. "Someone's here."

Bella

Jasper and I debate our options regarding Eli. I'm really uncomfortable leaving him with the cars while we get the others, but I am equally uncomfortable with the idea of taking him into the house with us.

Eli insists he doesn't want to be left alone. Unable to argue with that logic, and sympathizing with the kid, I decide to give him my baseball bat. The bash and run concept is easy enough. I'd rather have him armed with something I can keep an easy eye on. No knives for this kid under my watch. Earlier this week, before the whole Sarah debacle, Jasper and I had found an untouched pawn shop. This seemed like the perfect excuse to try out my new sword.

When Alice had wanted Ballet lessons, I'd demanded Karate. Fortunately for me, the classes had been at the same time, in the same building. Otherwise, I'm certain mom would have made me take dance classes right along with Ali. I cannot even imagine the horror that would have occurred. While my sister had inherited the grace and poise associated with our surname, I was, quite literally, a walking disaster.

In a humorous oxymoron, I'd had an aptitude for martial arts; I loved the classes and gained new belts quickly. I learned to spar with kids in my class, but we always used padding and mouth guards. I had just begun training with a staff when mom and dad sat us down for a serious talk. Simply put, our classes and equipment were too expensive. I was devastated, but volunteered to quit so Alice could continue her classes. I got a job babysitting to help cover the expenses. Alice threw herself into dance and schoolwork, earning a scholarship that would help pay for her lessons. She was so beautiful onstage and dance made her so happy. I never regretted my decision.

I guess we'll never know if she'd have become a professional.

As for me, while I'd never trained with a sword I was confident I'd at least have fun learning how to use it. Just in case, I attach the holster for a retractable metal Billy club to my belt. With a flick of the wrist, I'll have an eighteen inch club ready to rock. Retracted and attached to my hip, it was conveniently within reach, without hindering movement.

Jasper arms himself with a pistol and a machete.

I raised an eyebrow, "A bit gory isn't it?'

"Pot." He pointed at my sword, "Kettle." He waved the machete.

_Huh. He has a point._

I tell Banjo to stay put. He just pants at me with that dumb, slobbery, freaking adorable doggy grin of his. Flopping down between the cars, his intelligent brown eyes follow me as I shut the massive door behind me. It's heavier than it looks, and Jasper has to help.

Afterwards he smirks at me and I just roll my eyes. I am suddenly very eager to see my sister. If nothing else, she can distract Jasper. I'd had enough of his attitude.

During the walk back to the house, Eli sticks close by me and Jasper brings up the rear. I am hyper aware of every noise, from the thundering of my own heart to the crunch of gravel beneath our feet. I can still hear crickets chirping, so we are probably safe for now. As one favorite character from a much-loved book series often said, _"Constant vigilance!" _Even though it seems relatively safe, I will not be letting my guard down.

The trip takes less time than I expected, and before I know it we are circling the house, investigating a route inside. It's too dark to see much of anything in there, and while we have flash lights, we aren't going to turn them on until we absolutely have to.

The light draws them in like insects.

It's finally decided that Jasper will enter first, through the back door, followed by Eli, then me. If there is more than one zombie, Eli and I will switch so I can help Jasper take care of them while Eli watches the rear. Jazz and I both want to keep the boy out of danger, to the best of our ability. We go over this simple strategy again and again to make sure Eli understands. When he's rolling his eyes at us out of annoyance, we set our plan into motion.

"We are just going to make a beeline for the attic, inside straight up the stairs to the master bedroom. Hopefully they'll hear us coming. Ready?" Jasper makes himself perfectly clear, even in a whisper. Throwing open the back door, we charge inside.

Alice

"Where do you think they're going?" I ask, squinting into the sunset as I watch the two cars drive off, but not until they'd coaxed an all too willing Banjo into one vehicle.

As soon as they are out of sight, I head back inside, checking my bag twice to make sure I have everything I need. I make sure to gather some of Bella's belongings as well. Her worn and tattered copy of _Wuthering Heights, _her favorite oversized hoodie, the envelope with the small bundle of photos… After observing me quietly for a few moments, Edward follows my example, gathering the items Jasper has left behind.

These activities, unfortunately, only occupy a few minutes of our time. Now, all we can do is wait. And wait...

Time passes and it grows dark outside, I find myself nodding off, my eyes closing against my will while my head droops forward until my chin rests on my chest.

_CRASH!_

Startled, I jerk awake.

"_SHIT! You disgusting motherfucking corpse!"_ That is definitely Bella, I'd recognize that potty mouth anywhere- and it sounds like she's right beneath my feet. My eyes adjust to the dark slowly as I peer around the shadowy recesses of the room; I spot Edward by the stairs.

"You think that's bad?" He grins, "You should have heard her when they first came into the house."

"Why didn't you wake me up?!" I hiss at him.

He shrugs, "You looked tired."

"_Now would be the time to let us up guys!" _Bella shouts.

Edward quickly moves the bar we've used to lock the attic and shoves the stairs down. We are both momentarily blinded by the light of not two, but _three_ flashlights as our family members return plus one.

When my vision clears, they are already at the top of the stairs, and Jasper is securing the "lock". My sister is covered in gore, from head to foot. So is Jasper, but he still manages to look devastatingly handsome.

Neither the gore nor the small child cowering behind my sister captures my attention at first.

Instead, I stare agape at the weapon still white knuckled by my sister's right hand. "Where the hell did you get a sword?!"


	9. Chapter 9

__**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.**____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Emmett: Fall 2005

It's quiet. For the first time, in I can't remember how long, it is quiet. The silence is deafening after days of sirens, explosions, and gun shots. It sounded like World War III out there, and now nothing.

I squeeze Grandma Mary's hand before standing and moving to the window. It's been so silent for several hours and my curiosity has gotten the best of me.

I move the blanket away from the window, peeking through the boards nailed securely over the glass. I'm not sure what I expected to see, the well-manicured lawns of The Bluffs Assisted Living Facility? Positively not, but I am still startled by the chaos present in the dim gray light of early morning.

Not a single living breathing human… and far too many undead. I recognize one of the nurses' aides limping by the window, Brian. The shoulder of his scrubs stained a gruesome black with dried blood, the torn flesh of his throat clearly visible. I gag when I notice the maggots.

I turn away from the window and let the blanket fall back into place. My grandma and her roommate Edith watch me from their beds. I move back to the chair next to Grandma, sinking into it slowly.

I've been here almost a week now. I left Bella and Mary Alice at my apartment to check on Grandma, and never made it home again. I am in the assisted living wing of the nursing home. The residents here were generally capable of caring for themselves, most could still walk with a cane or walker, and some were only here for help with medication. I arrived in time to help barricade this wing from the rest of the already overrun nursing home.

I had had to brave a trip to the kitchens a few times, but now we are confined to this room alone. Our food and water is extremely limited, not to mention the medicine they both desperately need. They only take medicine for their pain when absolutely necessary; I know they are both suffering.

I look back at Grandma again, studying the familiar lines and wrinkles of her face. Mary Louise Vega married my grandpa Ben McCarty when she was just 17. They lived a long and happy life together, until my grandpa passed away four years ago. Grandma's health declined rapidly as Parkinson's disease set in and her body rebelled against her wishes. Sometimes, her legs shook so badly that she couldn't turn herself in bed.

I moved across the country and became a physical therapist so I could help take care of her. I work part time as a personal trainer, but I can only afford her room here, and the excellent healthcare the Bluffs is known for providing, by working full time in the therapy department. Not only do I get a nice paycheck, and a discount towards grandma's room and board, but I get to work with her an hour a day, three times a week. I know all the nurses and aides who take care of her, and I can trust them.

None of that matters now, except for the unforeseen bonus of knowing the building like the back of my hand.

Grandma can't walk on her own; Edith is still recovering from a broken hip and will be too slow. I can't push two wheelchairs, and I can't fathom leaving Edith behind. Yet we can't stay here much longer.

When Alice first suggested she and Bella spend their extra vacation time with me, I was all for it. I missed them, after two years away from home; I barely remembered how annoying they could be. I promised I would take care of them, swore to Charlie that they would be safe. When I made that promise, how was I supposed to know the zombie fucking apocalypse would start and I would fail him in less than a week?

My parents died in a head on collision with a drunk driver when I was three-years-old. My dad was an only child, and my Grandpa was battling lung cancer. Enter my mom's brother and his wife.

Leaving the only home I'd ever known, before I could truly comprehend that my parents were gone and I would never see them again, was terrifying. Nonetheless they took me in, loved me and treated me like their own. Charlie and I spent long hours talking about my mom. Somehow, it helped that he missed his sister as much as I missed her.

Bella was born only a few months later. I clearly remember staring at her tiny squashed baby face in wonder, while Charlie leaned over my shoulder. I had no concept of how that miniscule, squishy bundle of pink would change my life. I fell in love with her the very first time I laid eyes on her.

"Emmett?"

My head snaps up and my eyes meet Grandmas. The clear, dark brown orbs I remember from my childhood are now clouded with cataracts and pain.

"Go to them." She murmurs, staring intently into my eyes. "Leave us and go get your sisters."

I am briefly surprised she knows what I was thinking about. Then what she said registers. "What? No!" I gasp, shocked by the suggestion, "I can't!"

She shakes her head and reaches out to me, clutching my clenched fist with both her tiny cool hands. "We are dying Emmett." Shaking her head again, she leans forward, begging me with her eyes, "I am ready to meet my maker, and see your grandfather again. If you stay here, you will die."

"But-" I look over to Edith, surely she won't agree to this insanity, but she is nodding fervently, clutching her photo album tightly. Her family never came for her. "I can't just leave you here."

My grandmother smiles at me serenely, "It's okay. Give us the rest of the pain medicine. All of it. Please Emmett." With dawning horror, I realize she has put serious thought into this.

"Granma…" I implore, "Please, I can get you out of here."

"Not without getting you killed." I'm dismayed to see the tears in her eyes, her voice breaks as she begs, "I've heard the screams, and I've seen the pain and terror and violence… Please Emmett! Don't let me die like that." The thought alone turns my stomach.

"I can't kill you!" Angry tears fill my eyes. Parkinson's is a progressive illness. There is no cure, but with therapy and medication, one could live many years. Everyone dies someday, but I didn't know someday would be so soon.

She smiles at me, as tears fill the crags in her aging face, "You're setting me free Emmett." I can't believe I'm even considering this. I spent every summer with Grandma and Grandpa here in Florida; she is the only link I have to my dad.

The more I consider my options, the less feasible escape becomes. I can't take one of them and come back for the other, leaving them both alone and vulnerable. If I try to take them both at the same time, we will certainly all die. I can't push two wheelchairs and kill zombies. There are so many undead, I don't know how I can make it out alive by myself.

I have long since given up on the thought of rescue.

And then I think back on that tiny pink bundle, and the one that followed shortly after. Memories flashed before my eyes. The summer Alice lost both her front teeth after running her bike head on into a tree. The lime green cast Bella wore from shoulder to wrist after she broke her arm- tripping over my leg; countless water-gun fights and arguments over the Nintendo. Alice in her first tutu, Bella hitting herself in the head with her padded training nun-chucks.

Grandma McCarty has lived a long and full life, but for Alice, Bella, and I, life has only just begun.

This can't be the end.

My decision made, I start digging through the med cart. With a heavy heart, I help Edith over to my grandma's bed, and then help them swallow all those pills. They sit next to each other; my grandma offers her hand to Edith. They rest together, holding hands and praying.

I collect grandma's tattered family bible from the drawer in her bedside table and settle down in the chair next to the bed, reading passages as requested until my voice becomes hoarse and my words begin to slur.

My head snaps up when my chin bobs against my chest. I've been reading for hours and must have dozed. Edith has been still for some time. I watch in silence as grandma's head falls to her chest, and Mary Louise McCarty breathes her last breath.

What have I done?

Bella: Fall 2007

We unanimously agree to stay here for the rest of the night. We can all use the rest in a safe place. The cars aren't going anywhere. This is also the smarter plan, daylight means less zombies. After cleaning up and changing my clothes, I pretty much fall onto the mattress I'd been using as a bed, ready to pass out.

"Bella?" Eli's quiet voice carries softly from next to the stairs. He hasn't moved an inch since I introduced him to Alice and Edward. "Can I sleep with you?" Once again, his large dark brown eyes draw me in. Wordlessly, I scoot backwards across the bed, making room. Eli shuffles over to me quickly, laying down and falling to sleep moments after.

I lay awake for a while yet, until the sky begins to lighten, studying his face in the moonlight. He's just an innocent child, and my heart aches for the things he must have been through. He felt he had to commit murder just to save a couple of complete strangers. Something I would have been completely unable to fathom at his age, but to have actually acted on that protective instinct? I'm not sure I want to know what those people put him through.

A part of me, the part that has learned not to trust anyone, fears him. Another part of me, a part that must be entirely Renee, just wants to hold him and shield him from further harm. The latter part wins for now, as I wrap my arm around him. He snuggles into me, sighing in his sleep.

I must have drifted off, because my next thought is of the heat. The sun is streaming through the uncovered attic window and I am bathed in its excruciatingly wretched warmth. I rub my eyes and stretch before I decide to just get up. If it's this hot now, I will be miserable later.

I am the first one up, and I take the moment to enjoy the peace and quiet. Even though I prefer to sleep in, I have always loved the still serenity of early morning. Only an hour later the whole group is up, fed, and ready to go. Alice had already packed most of the supplies, so it was easy to get going.

"It's about a half mile to the cars. I suggest we take another day to rest and head out first thing in the morning." I raise a questioning eyebrow at Jasper's suggestion, but he just nods at Eli. When I take a closer look at the boy, I notice how sullen and shell-shocked he seems. Perhaps he does need a day to rest. I know just the thing, something I'm pretty sure none of us have enjoyed in a few years.

Surprisingly, leaving the house is uneventful. The place is completely wrecked, the rotting corpses we'd plowed through last night still scattered about the house in putrid pieces. We make it back to the barn fairly quickly, pleased to find Banjo safe and sound.

He bounds straight to Alice, knocking her over and licking all over her face. Alice laughs and pets him happily before he runs off to take care of his doggy business. Can't blame him, he was caged last night.

Looking at Alice, Eli cracks a smile.

"What?" She asks, her confusion evident. Her hair is sticking up in the back like Alfalfa from _The Little Rascals_ movie. I snicker as well.

"Nothing pipsqueak" I grin, offering my hand to help her up, mussing her hair once she's on her feet. Now it looks even worse. She glares at me as she tries to pat it down, glancing thoughtfully at Jasper through the corners of her eyes.

_Oh no, _I think, _log that one away for future use. _Looks like Ali and I will be talking boys soon. I can already tell by the blush staining her cheeks that I will have a great deal of fun with this.

We spend most of the day lounging in and around the barn. We take turns playing cards, and even play a rousing game of monopoly. Eli and I play as a team. We win.

When it starts to get dark, we call Banjo in and close the barn doors, rolling out our sleeping bags in the safest looking part of the loft; I decide it's time for my surprise.

My sword isn't the only awesome thing I found in that pawn shop. Foraging in one of the cars, I finally locate the two portable DVD players. Setting one up in each car to run off the car battery, I pull a selection of DVD's out.

As I'd mentally predicted, Alice is psyched about movie night, she picks _Legally Blonde_ while the boys choose to watch _Transformers._ Jasper sneaks outside to pop some corn over the fire while I keep everyone distracted inside. Once we are all settled down with our buttery treat, I give a contented sigh. I can hear the boys debating favorite transformers, it is the most excited I have seen Eli. He actually sounds like a little boy. _Is this what it feels like to have a good day?_

I fall asleep before the movie is halfway over.


	10. Chapter 10

__**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.**____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Bella: Fall 2005

The emergency broadcast we are watching hasn't changed in hours, the same newscaster and video roll over and over again. My instincts tell me this is not a good sign.

When the power goes out, ice water runs through my veins as darkness surrounds us.

The sudden quiet of the now dead TV is deafening. My racing heart and Mary Alice's sharp breaths are the only sounds I hear. Its pitch black in the living room, I did not notice how late it had gotten.

Where the hell is Emmett?

As kids, we'd had a weekend every month devoted to mommy/daughter, father/son activities. Month after month, mom and Mary Alice dragged me along for shopping excursions and manicures. Alice loved to look through the magazines in the salon while Renee got her hair done. I was bored out of my mind. I hated getting my nails painted, I had a habit of chewing my nails and the polish just chipped off in a day or two anyway. I began to bring my favorite book along. If I was going to read, it would be something worth my time. Why would I care about the latest failed celebrity marriage?

When Emmett and Charlie came back from camping for the weekend, Em was all talk about everything they'd done and seen. From hiking up the mountain to see the whole valley, and the lights in Forks as the sun set, to the hour it had taken Emmett to finally pitch the tent by himself the first time. It seemed they had a great many adventures and while some, like the incident with the skunk in '99, I was thankful to have missed, I was mostly jealous of their fun.

Well about the time I started Karate, my mom finally admitted to herself that I just wasn't like most girls. She asked me if I had fun during these trips. While Renee was eccentric at times, she would always listen to anything I had to say with an open heart and open mind. While I disliked dressing rooms and the endless parades before my mother and sister modeling clothes I would never wear, let alone buy; these weekends were a chance to unload. We'd talk about anything and everything. Alice preferred boy talk and celebrity gossip, I preferred literature and video games.

After that, every other month, I went camping with Em and Dad. While the survival lessons weren't always welcome, standing in the dark in an unfamiliar apartment, I find myself exceedingly thankful for Charlie's paranoia. What to do in an emergency, any emergency, has been drilled into my head. In the first few hours of Em's absence, I filled the bathtub, both sinks, and every bucket or bottle I could find with tap water.

I was pleased to find a couple cases of bottled water, candles, flashlights, matches, a ton of still packaged batteries of all sizes, and a couple weeks' worth of canned goods in the pantry. It seems Charlie's lessons stuck with Emmett too. I had taken two flashlights and batteries for them, along with a couple candles and a book of matches, and stored them on the side table in the living room.

Caught off guard as I am by the front door, where I'd been peeking through the curtains at the disturbing silence outside, I yell out to Alice and tell her to stay put while I stumble my way back to the living room. With all the windows covered by blankets, it's pitch black in here. By taking slow careful steps, with my arms outstretched, I eventually find my way to the living room and collect the flashlights.

I find Alice in the guest room. She's calmed down a bit now. I give her a flashlight and a lit candle, before returning to the living room. It's been a few hours since I ate, but I'm not the least bit hungry. All I can think of is my big brother… and the turmoil outside.

Against my will, I find myself drifting off to sleep in the armchair in front of the useless T.V.

The next morning a pounding on the door wakes me. Before I can answer it, I hear a gruff voice announce that they are members of the National Guard, here to evacuate us. Apparently, Emmett's apartment complex is no longer safe.

I know better than to trust someone just because they wear a uniform. I ask for two forms of ID, so that I know they are actually government officials. While the older, heavyset man rolls his eyes at me; the other, a younger less weary version of his partner, gives me a half smile and shows me his driver's license and military ID.

Mary Alice and I had already packed bags with two days clothing, food, identification, and personal hygiene products. So we were out the door and on a bus in minutes. I'd also grabbed a few of Em's pictures, some of our family, some of his, and the only picture he had of his parents. I had watched the national guardsmen tape a piece of neon orange paper over the crack of Emmett's front door. I couldn't read the type printed on the page, but I knew it was a sign to mark the house evacuated, or a billboard for looters. _Come on in, take whatever you want, no one here to stop you._

The next few hours are still just a blur in my mind. When we boarded, there had been seven buses on the street, all jam-packed with men, women, and children on their way to a refugee camp. _Is that what we are now? Refugees?_ My mind turns to Emmett again.

It quickly became glaringly obvious that the media has lied to us. Firstly, no illness should require an escorted evacuation with extremely armed national guardsmen and women. During the drive north, I began to see more and more of a devastation I had in no way been prepared for.

I knew the disease was transmitted through contact with bodily fluids. I also knew that the infected lost their mental faculties and attacked, often biting, any and everyone who crossed their path. On the news, we had been advised to avoid contact with infected individuals. Though newscasters had assured us of hard-working scientists, and night show hosts had cracked numerous jokes, I was so far beyond unprepared.

We had been traveling for hours with no entertainment and I had the aisle seat, Alice wanted the window, of course, and I was fine with her taking it... we had the bench with the wheel well so the window seat had less leg room. The looting and violence outside was something I had never thought I'd see. This is the U.S. of A. This shit just doesn't happen here, right?

Alice didn't want to see anymore, so I agreed to take the window seat only if she'd stop her incessant chatter, but I never got the chance. Our bus driver suddenly slammed on the breaks, skidding forward until the old school bus slammed into the rear end of the bus in front of us. I was thrown forward just as I stood up, face planting into the seat back in front of me and crumpling to the floor on top of our bags. I had just enough time to lift my head.

You know how in the movies, time always slows way down so you can see many things happening at once? This happened to me as I caught a glimpse through the bus' window. I saw three things the chilled my blood. First, our bus was stalled in the middle of a six-way intersection. Second, an R.V. barreled forward to T-bone the bus- Alice directly in its path. Lastly, I caught sight of my first zombie, gnawing on a body by the side of the road.

I reach up in a half-assed attempt to grab my sister, her name halfway past my lips, "ALI-!"

The sounds of screams, crumpling metal, and shattering glass fill the air as I'm thrown to the other side of the bus, my head slams into the roof and spots swim through my vision before blackness claims me.

Emmett

"Fuck!"

I slam my fist into the green painted wood of my front door, pissed beyond belief by the notice posted there, then curse again as pain races up my arm. That's what I get for punching an inanimate object.

I push my key into the lock, tearing through the flimsy piece of neon paper and entering my house for the first time in over a week. Even though I know they won't be here, my heart twists and my stomach churns when I don't find my siblings.

Bella and Alice were only supposed to visit. I swore to take care of them. At the time I made that promise, I'd had no way of knowing the real danger they would face. And I failed them already. They're gone, and I have no way of finding them.

Charlie and Renee took me in; they always treated me as their own. The girls didn't even know I was adopted until Bella was sixteen. How do I repay their generosity? By getting their children killed!

I physically recoil from the thought. I have to assure myself my sisters aren't dead; I just have to find them. I grab my duffel bag, purchased at the army surplus store a month before my big move to Florida, packing a few changes of clothes, some food, and other supplies; I leave in a hurry- pausing only long enough to read the evacuation notice taped to my door. Apparently, they are headed to Georgia.

Bella

The ringing in my ears is deafening. Disoriented, I slowly pick my head up, my head spins and my vision fades and I groan, putting my hand to my forehead and pushing my dampened bangs out of my eyes. When I pull my hand away and see the blood coating it, I groan again. The rust and salt scent makes my stomach churn and I try to pull in a deep breath, my side aches and every breath burns.

The ringing fades and the sound of bloodcurdling screams pierce my foggy mind. "Alice?" I mumble, squinting through my hazy vision in an attempt to spot my baby sister. With another sharp painful breath, my mind is assaulted by images of the last few minutes. The crash, the infected, the second crash. "Alice!" I launch to my feet, spurred by adrenaline and find my sister, amazingly unharmed, and sitting in the bench across the aisle from where we had been. Most of the other passengers hadn't fared as well.

As I took note of our surroundings, I spot the zombie from the roadside, dragging itself up the stairs onto the bus, attacking our unconscious driver. I grab our bags from under the seat as blood stains the windshield.

I push open the door of the emergency exit in the roof as another zombie boards; those still aware at the front of the bus begin to scramble backwards, up the aisle, trampling each other as they crawl over the seats in a frantic attempt to flee. I push Ali up onto the seats, and then through the exit, grabbing her ankles and shoving her up as undead flood the bus, this time from the back exit- a desperate mother's attempt to flee with her children ends in disaster. I shove our bags through the hole, climbing onto the seats and pulling myself up as best I can.

This is the point at which I realize my upper body strength is _severely_ lacking.

Alice grabs my hands, pulling while I shove off the seat backs. At the last moment, I feel a tug on my foot, I kick blindly at the person below me, finally breaking free and scrambling my way onto the roof. The screams from the bus below us, and the moans from the infected around us are deafening.

Clutching each other, we collapse onto the roof of the bus. I kick the hatch shut.

The back end of the bus is in a ditch, the front is slightly elevated. We are completely surrounded.

It is a long time before the screams below us die, fading into the moans of the undead, even longer before we can both breathe normally again. That bothersome pain in my side has intensified, each breath is excruciating. Hours have passed, and it seems as if none of the infected has left. It's as if they know we're here.

Alice turns to me; her large brown eyes seem to fill her face, bloodshot and full of tears. "What are we going to do?"


	11. Chapter 11

__**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.**____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Bella: Fall 2005

It's been mostly quiet for hours. It's almost dark, and I know we have to find some place safe to sleep. On top of an unstable bus surrounded by zombies is not at all an ideal hideout.

I don't have an answer for Alice. I leave her and our bags at the center of the bus' roof. I crawl cautiously closer to the edge, surveying our surroundings. We can leap to the top of the RV; it's only a few feet. The two vehicles came to a stop when the front right side of the school bus had struck a pole, leaving the bus partway in a ditch and the RV nearly touching the front of the school bus at an obtuse angle. A leap to the roof of another vehicle may at least provide an avenue of escape. I can't guarantee the RV will run, however, plus I have no idea what is inside it. So it will have to be a last resort.

I don't see any other vehicle's so close to the bus. I can see two other buses from our ill-fated caravan, both overrun, and several cars a few dozen yards further up the highway. There are way too many infected between us, and I have no way to defend us. Not to mention this stabbing pain in my side, I can't take a full breath. I'm not confident in my ability to run right now.

Now I'm not proud of what happens next, but it bears mentioning that even the strongest of people break down.

As I survey our grim prospects, my chest constricts with the sudden realization, I may never see my parents again. I may never see Emmett, or rainy Forks, or my classmates- they may all be dead. How far has the disease spread?

_How the fuck are we going to get off this stupid fucking bus!_

And then I start crying. Once the tears are flowing, I just can't stop. Deep violent sobs wrench themselves from my lungs as I gasp for air. My diaphragm cramps, my side burns, and I start hiccupping, choking on my own tears and snot, I can't breathe. My vision spots and my head swims, and I sink slowly back to a sitting position.

Alice stares at me incredulously for a full minute before she scurries over, wordlessly opening her arms and pulling me close. She helps me regulate my breathing until my sobs turn to whimpers and my tears finally dry up. I'm immediately embarrassed by my display.

Slowly sitting up, I try not to let my pain show on my face as my abs clench and fire shoots through my chest again. I give Alice an apologetic smile, and she just squeezes my hands in return. No words need exchanged. As different and at odds as we may seem to be, Alice is my best friend, she knows me better than I know myself.

"Do you hear that?" She asks.

I don't hear anything other than the awkward shuffles and moans of the creatures beneath and around us.

"Listen." I close my eyes and listen carefully, beyond the crickets just coming out and the disturbing sounds of the undead, I think I hear a motor of some kind.

"Is that a truck?" After a few minutes, the sound becomes distinct. I'd recognize that engine anywhere. It's Emmett's Jeep!

As the Jeep approaches, hope soars, and then I immediately come crashing down. What if it's someone else driving _Dragula_? Emmett had named his massive black Jeep after his favorite song. Even though it's not a Jeep featured in the music video. That's just Emmett for you.

"Get down." I hiss at Alice, dropping to my stomach and squinting at the approaching vehicle. The Jeep has slowed to a crawl as it navigates through the traffic jam, but the glare from the setting sun lights up the windshield, and I can't see the driver until he is about to pass us by.

"Emmett!" I shriek, shocking even myself with the volume and pitch of my voice. Luckily, his window is down and he hears me. His head snaps to the side, his eyes lock with mine, and he slams on the breaks. Unluckily… the zombies hear me too.

Esme: Fall 2007

As I meander from room to room, locking and closing windows, shutters, and doors for the evening, my mind turns to my lost child, as it always does as the day unwinds. When the sun is out, I keep myself busy. I garden, can for the winter, clean every square inch of the house and surrounding outbuildings. I sew and knit in the evening by candlelight. Oh yes, there are a great many things to do, every minute of every day. I never seem to catch up to my ever growing to do list, and yet I still have time to worry, to fear for my family.

At the twins' high school graduation, I had feared for my children, though my worries had been quite different. While Rosalie had opted to take a year off of school, staying home and working for extra school money. Conversely, Jasper was off to college half a country away. Why the University of Missouri- Columbia? Jasper had always preferred the simplest course of action. By accepting the very first school that had accepted him, Jasper had avoided the stress and anguish of choosing between later offers. I had been worried for all the reasons a mother should be. Would he be getting enough to eat? Would he even bother to study?

My nephew Edward had followed suit, he and Jasper were going to room together. When the Ambulare Mortuus Virus began to spread, the boys had already been on campus. They'd lost contact with us very early on, after Columbia was evacuated. I pray I'll see them again.

Rosalie, Carlisle, and I had been fortunate. It was January before the virus made it to Washington. As a result, when we were evacuated from our home in Seattle, we were well prepared.

At the refugee camp in Forks, we made acquaintances with the Chief of Police, Charles Swan, and his wife, Renee. They had three children in Florida at the start of the outbreak.

The five of us barely escaped the refugee camp turned meat grinder. Our band of survivor's grew over the following weeks, as we gathered supplies and made plans to stay on Charlie's island. Less than half of our group made it to the island.

Finally finished with the first floor, I pick up my lantern and head upstairs, pausing long enough to block off the landing, just in case. Even though we haven't had an incident in over a year, I refuse to get complacent. I can never fully relax. Carlisle should be getting back soon; he will use the ladder to the second story, pulling it up behind him. The hallway window is shut but not latched. It is a much easier system, and nicer on everyone, because he doesn't have to wake someone to let him in.

I have barely settled into bed when the door creaks open and my husband enters. He looks exhausted. He's been doing more than his share of the workload all summer. Renee passed away in the spring, and Charlie has not fared well in her absence. Carlisle has had to pick up the slack to keep everyone safe.

He stumbles through the dark room, collapsing into bed next to me. Jacob will keep watch for the rest of the night, and Carlisle can finally catch some much needed rest. He is asleep before his head hits the pillow.

It isn't worth the match to relight the lantern, and so I rise and undress my love in the dark, carefully rolling him to the side to tug the sheet out from under him. He is in the best shape of his life. All the fresh foods, manual labor, and lack of junk food has done him well, and I take a moment to enjoy the hard planes of his chest and stomach before tucking the sheet around him… mostly to avoid temptation. After allowing myself a moment of longing, though I am just as tired as he is; I kiss his forehead and curl up with my head on his shoulder. It isn't long before I drift to sleep as well.


	12. Chapter 12

__**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.**____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Bella: Fall 2005

"Emmett!" I shriek. Luckily, his window is down and he hears me. Unluckily… the zombies hear me too.

Horrified, I scoot back from the edge of the roof, pulling Alice with me. The infected pile against the side of the bus, bloody hands pounding against the glass as they reach towards us, stampeding forward they crush each other into the once shiny yellow vehicle. The rear end of the bus is in a ditch, the front is slightly elevated. My stomach lurches as the bus rocks.

Emmett is stopped at the other end of the RV. Before I've made a conscious decision, my body has already leapt into action. Throwing my backpack over my shoulder and grabbing Alice, who is already wearing hers, I make a run for it.

I was clumsy as a child, so ungainly my parents were on a first name basis with all of the ER staff. By the time I was eleven I'd had stitches in my knee, and my eyebrow. I'd broken my arm and my collar bone, all in very different and unfortunate accidents.

At sixteen, I had managed to avoid catastrophe for several years. However, a sudden lack of painful incidents does not an athlete make. I can't even manage to run the mile in P.E. without tripping and scraping something.

Yet somehow, as I barrel down the length of the bus' roof, I manage to stay upright. I don't trip, I don't slip, and I don't even hesitate when it's time to jump. The distance between the bus and the RV is probably no more than three feet, but I leap over it like an Olympic long jumper, complete with a crash landing somersault that rips the breath from my lungs as a painful crack echoes in my ears.

I can't breathe, the stabbing ache of before has become an all-consuming fire. Each painful breath wheezes past my lips, and I can only get oxygen through shallow pants.

Alice is pulling on my arm, she's saying something, but I'm not sure what. I can't hear her through the ringing in my ears. We aren't safe yet, I know that. We have to get to Emmett. Somehow, I struggle to my knees, crawling to the back of the RV with Alice pulling my arm.

When I see the ladder, I know I'm shit out of luck. The back of the RV is mangled, where another car must have struck it, what's left of the ladder is useless. Alice has already scurried over the side, shouting something I can't make out. I try to catch my breath. Just one deep breath and I'll jump.

I don't get the chance as something grabs my ankle, dragging me from my perch. A strangled scream attempts to pass my lips, but the only sound that escapes me is something like a hiss. For the second time today, I pass out.

Emmett

A traffic jam. This is my luck, apparently.

First, I'm not even home when the world ends; abandoning my little sisters to a probable horrific fate. Then I kill my grandma and rush home to save them… only to miss them by a few miserable hours.

When I left the apartment, I brought the evacuation notice with me. It gave the location of the "safe zone" my siblings were destined for. It had a handwritten date and time in the bottom right corner. While I read bible passages to my dying grandmother, my sisters were forcibly removed from the relative safety of my home. I was too late.

Then, even though I knew better, I had attempted to take the most direct route to Thomasville, Georgia. The roads were mostly empty, and I was able to speed for long stretches, but the cities and larger towns I pass are completely gridlocked. I'm traveling north on Hwy 19 when I encounter just this problem.

As I approach Monticello I begin to chance upon abandoned cars. Some vehicles are even still running, their occupants halfway out a partially opened car door. I find it disturbingly easy to ignore the gore and simply focus on navigating my hulking jeep through the debris. Thanks for the desensitization, Hollywood.

There aren't many infected around, and when I do see them, I have no problem passing them up. _Dragula_ was meant for off-roading, driving over a few animated corpses is no problem at all.

Just as I'm pulling into the shoulder to pass a massive RV blocking most of the road, I hear someone call my name. My head snaps to the right and I find Bella and Alice perched atop a school bus.

"Fuck." Remember those zombie's I wasn't seeing?

Found them.

Before I can even begin to form a plan, Bella has taken off at a dead run towards the front of the bus, dragging Alice behind. She lets go of her sister, takes three more long steps, and throws herself onto the roof of the RV. She evens sticks the landing, crumpling to her knees and rolling head over foot in an awkward somersault. Ten points!

Alice follows suit, only far more gracefully. She's pulling on Bella now, but Bella won't get up. Alice's frantic pleas for help force my frozen limbs into motion. I pull the Jeep up to the back of the RV, blocking the remainder of the road and forcing the undead into the ditch. I hoped to buy us a few moments.

I clamber out of the driver's seat, leaving the engine running and shutting the door, Alice has managed to get Bella to the end of the RV. "I'll drive!" She yells as she jumps again, this time denting the hood of my Jeep.

I circle around her and head straight to Bella. She's pale, her lips are blue, and her forehead is damp… no wonder she can't run anymore. I don't have time to climb up and get her; three infected have just circled the bus and are lumbering towards me. I grab her ankle, yanking her down and throwing her over my shoulder in a fireman's carry.

I haul ass back to the Jeep, pulling the passenger door open, shoving Bella in, and then hopping up myself. Alice guns it before I even reach for the door and not a moment too soon as a furious looking corpse in a suit just misses grabbing my arm.

As Bella begins to cough blood, we race to Thomasville.

Bella: Fall 2007

When I wake up, curled up on my sleeping bag still fully dressed, I am understandably disoriented. From a dream memory. _Again. _Sitting up, I groan.

Judging by the crick in my neck, falling asleep in the car was a terrible idea. Fortunately, someone was awake when the movies ended. Both DVD players are unplugged and put away. One of the guys must have brought my sleeping bag down; Alice is still asleep beside me.

I stretch and rise, changing quickly to avoid being caught nearly naked. The guys are nowhere to be seen, all three of them must have gone on some kind of early morning mission and left Alice and I to sleep in. Ordinarily, I'd be pissed, but I actually feel well rested and can't bring myself to stay mad at them. When I finish brushing my hair and teeth, I notice Alice is finally stirring. I decide this is as good a time as any to have a little chat.

I hold the hairbrush out to her, "So you and Jasper, huh?"

Alice is reaching for the proffered brush and caught off guard, her cheeks flair a brilliant red.

"I thought so." For someone with absolutely no relationship experience, I can't help feeling a little smug.

Alice just rolls her eyes, "Oh don't even start."

"Just hear me out okay?" Cue second eye roll. "Look, you're my sister. As far as I know, you're the only family I have left. I love you, and I don't want to see you get hurt, whether it's a broken leg, a zombie bite, or a broken heart. Just… look after yourself Ali. Take it slow, and for the love of all that is sacred and holy to womankind everywhere- don't get pregnant."

"Bella!" She gasps, smacking me in the arm with the back of the brush; her scandalized expression sends me into a fit of giggles.

Alice releases loud dramatic sigh, "You don't have to worry. He's not interested in me." Her dejected expression annoys the hell out me.

"His loss." I state, but Alice just shrugs. The side door pops open before I can think of anything to cheer my sister up, yet her face brightens and her smile pops right out when Jasper is the first one in the door. Cue third eye roll of the morning, this time on my part.

Eli, Banjo, and then Edward pile through after Jasper, who struggles to pull the door shut behind him, kicking a zed in the face a few times to get it out of the way.

They all make a beeline for the cars while Jasper prepares to pull open the giant barn doors on the other side of the building. I'm not sure how many undead there are, so I quickly grab our things up, tossing them into the backseat of the silver hatchback. I tell Alice to drive and note Edward getting into the driver's seat of the other car, Eli and Banjo climbing in on the passenger side. I unsheathe my sword and join Jasper at the large double doors. Once both cars are started, Jasper and I open the doors simultaneously.

We're in luck. No zeds on this side of the building yet, and we are able to travel right down the unimpeded drive out to the main road. Finally on our way home.

After a few hours we stop to cook lunch. A while ago, Alice and I snacked on some granola bars I had stashed in the glove box, but now we are definitely hungry. So when the boys signal and pull over into a seemingly empty rest stop, neither of us complains.

I jump out of the car almost as soon as it stops moving, heading right for the trees on the other side of the parking lot, Alice follows on my heels. While riding in the car sure beats walking or running and we've covered more distance in the last three hours than Alice and I have in weeks, my overfull bladder is a painful reminder that I have not had a chance to go this morning.

After our uneventful foray into the foliage, we return to the vehicles and the guys. Jasper has started a small fire; in one of those iron barbecue pit things you see everywhere. When I catch sight of the gory mess on the far side of the clearing, near the trees on this side of the parking lot, I ask Alice to grab something from the car.

With Alice sufficiently distracted searching for an object in our car, an item I know for a fact is in Jasper's car, I head on over to clean up the mess. We've eaten plenty of rabbit, even squirrel before, but I have always been responsible for trapping and cleaning the meat we ate. Fur and guts lying around really ruins ones appetite, you know?

I head back over to the guys, plopping down on the stone bench opposite the one Edward lounges on. "So, is that what you were doing this morning?" I ask Jasper.

"Yeah, I set out some traps last night while I was popping corn. I wasn't expecting to find anything. Well Eli insisted on coming along, so I dragged Edward into it to help me keep an eye out. We caught a couple rabbits and then I showed Eli a few things. He didn't seem real interested." I'm actually a little surprised he can hunt, but then again, it's no accident Jasper and Edward are both still alive. They've had to fight for survival too.

"You know," Edward starts, "If you keep babying her like that, she'll never learn to take care of herself. She almost died while you were gone because she wouldn't kill a walker. Christ, you can't even skin dinner in front of her? It's pitiful."

A terrified howl interrupts what would have been a strongly worded argument, and we all turn to face the sound. Eli and Banjo were playing fetch in the grassy expanse just opposite our cars. Banjo, clear across the road, abandons his ball and barrels back to Eli. The boy stands frozen, a dozen yards away from us as a zed stumbles from the brush to his left. It's gnarled and decrepit hands are centimeters from Eli's face.

Alice is between us and the zombie and Eli, she reacts first. Grabbing her crowbar and sprinting past the terrified boy, she uses her momentum to power her favored crowbar and it connects with the zed's temple. Once, twice, three times… When she finally stops, she is sobbing and covered in gore. She pulls Eli in for a hug just as Banjo plows into them, knocking all three to the ground.

As the three of them come join us at the barbecue pit, I raise an eyebrow at Edward. Pitiful indeed.


	13. Chapter 13

__**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.**____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Bella: Fall 2007

It doesn't take Alice long to locate a creek, just off an overgrown and long forgotten jogging trail through the woods behind the rest stop. We find a spot where the water is mostly clear and take turns bathing. It feels wonderful to let my hair from its braid.

Mary Alice is the smart one in this department. Short hair is much easier to maintain in our post-apocalyptic world, showers being few and far between. Plus, hair in the face really cramps the zombie killing style.

Before the undead took to roaming the earth, my hair had been a nice respectable length. Falling to the middle of my shoulder blades with no bangs, perfect for the pony tail I usually wore. Now, due to my refusal to cut it, my hair is nearly to my waist. Long and thick and exhaustingly annoying, I usually braid it and stick it down my shirt.

Alice, unsurprisingly, attempts to convince me to cut it. Try as she might, I just can't bear to part with the one thing that still makes me feel feminine. I inspect the deplorably split ends of my long brown locks and shrug indifferently before quickly braiding my still wet mane and shoving the rope down my shirt, giving Alice a cheeky grin. The withering stare I receive in reply has me giggling as I dig in my bag. I pull out the mirror so I can I hold it while she trims her hair, and we head back to our makeshift camp.

When we arrive, our food has gone cold, but we shovel it down hurriedly so we can pack everything back into the cars. By the time we are finished, the boys have returned from their own foray into the wilderness, all three looking much more relaxed.

It's still early afternoon, so we decide to get a few more miles out of the day. I manage to con Eli into riding with me and Edward in the blue Honda, while Banjo, Alice, and Jasper take the Silver Subaru.

We want to completely avoid Kansas City, so west is out of the option for now. Most everything surrounding Columbia, Mo is a maze of rural homes and crazy country roads- some of which lead to nowhere in particular. None of the maps we'd found had _all_ of the roads, and we quite often encountered streets that weren't on any of our maps at all. Where we would usually avoid major roadways, it seemed a necessity after wasting nearly two days of supplies driving in circles. We needed to make up some time, and it is with this particularly foolish thought that we decide to head north on Highway 63.

With frequent obstacles, (abandoned cars, zombies, etc.) even travelling on the highway isn't as fast as it once was. Seventy miles per hour is a dream long lost. With potholes the size of your car, you'd be insane to even think of it.

Boredom sets in very quickly. Who can stand a road trip without entertainment? Edward won't even let me put on some music. I'd managed to find and collect some decent CD's over the past two years, but could never justify wasting batteries on a CD player. Now here we are, in a car with a CD player, and I'm not _allowed_ to make use of it. What? Did it offend his delicate male sensibilities when my sister rescued her damn self? _Boo freaking hoo_. Yet somehow, I can't bring myself to just shove a CD in, and tell him where he can shove his attitude.

I envy Eli. He stared out the window until his eyelids drooped and he passed out, whereas I cannot fall asleep right now if my life depended on it. Snoring sprawled across the backseat seems like heaven right now. I turn in my seat to peer out the rear window. The little silver hatchback isn't far behind us, and I can clearly see my sister in the front seat. Jasper is driving and they are laughing about something.

I turn to glare at my sullen companion who, of course, completely ignores me. With my best dramatic sigh, I slouch down into my seat, turning to glare out the window. Alice better appreciate the alone time I just handed her on a silver freaking platter.

"I'msorry." Edward spits the words out of the corner of his mouth so quickly they run together.

I glance at him, surprised. His brow is furrowed and he looks annoyed. _Or constipated._ I suppress the urge to snort audibly at that thought; Edward just focuses on the road.

"You know." He hedges, I just arch the bitch brow and he groans, "Look, obviously Alice can take care of herself… when it suits her." Alice does have the tendency to play damsel in distress. She's fully capable; she just doesn't like to get her hands dirty. "I shouldn't have judged her. Sorry."

I've never been good at the whole _people_ thing, and I'm not really sure what to say. I spout some crap about trusting Alice with my life and know-it-alls with bad hair.

The corner of his mouth crooks up a bit, "Permanent bed head huh? You know, I do brush it."

_And then you do that run your hand through it and tug thing, but don't worry; it doesn't bother me a bit._

My eyes widen and my cheeks redden as my brain processes that thought. This cannot happen. My one and only goal is to get home alive with Alice by my side. While Edward and Jasper are traveling with us, it is only to serve a purpose. Safety in numbers.

We will be parting company in Seattle; we will most likely never see or hear from each other again. There is no way I can fall in like. Not happening. Ugh, _Edward_, of all people.

Eli is just waking up and asks if I have any snacks. As I'm reaching for my "Eli" bag in the backseat, the car gives a violent lurch. As our car comes to a shuddering halt, both front tires destroyed, my eyes connect with Jasper's through the rear windshield. His car has come to a halt several dozen yards behind us, just shy of the spike strip that had taken us out. "Go!" I shout.

As half a dozen armed figures crowd our stalled car, Jasper puts the car into reverse and races down the road. Spinning the car and punching it into drive, like something from a Hollywood stunt, he speeds away from us, back the way we came.

I catch one last glimpse of Mary Alice Swan, her frightened brown eyes wide with a caught-in-the-headlights expression, lips forming my name as she fights to remove her seatbelt. How Jasper managed to maneuver the car like that while holding Alice in place with one arm, I will never understand. In that moment, he is able to do something I couldn't; he is able to get my sister to safety.

Edward

As we are hustled from the car at gunpoint, my eyes are automatically drawn to Bella. She keeps her head down, and reaches out to accept Eli when he cowers into her side. Someone shoves me against the hood of the car, searching me quickly. He searches Bella too, and the creep takes his fuckin' time, I watched her shudder and glare over his shoulder, her whole body tense and trembling. My blood boils.

"Knock it off Greg!" Eli glares up at the handsy creep. "She's with me."

Greg scoffs down at Eli, "What happened to Sarah?"

With a half-hearted shrug Eli replies, "She was going soft. It had to be done." This punk has been playing Bella like a fool.

"Wha- Eli, what are you talking about?" Bella's voice trembles. It's all I can do not to leap over the hood and knock that brat on his ass. I've never wanted to hurt a kid before.

As satisfying as that may be, it would only get me and Bella killed.

Eli turns his glare to her, "Shut it _Stella_. From now on, keep your mouth zipped. You wanna live right?"

Greg nods in my direction, "What about this one?"

"I don't get any say in that." Eli answers, his tone carefully indifferent.

"Yeah," Greg grins, showing off rotted yellow teeth, "You don't actually get a say in anything." His goons step in to hustle all three of us into the bed of a truck off the side of the road. We are left alone, but our hands are tied to each other, and to anchors in the truck bed. They load all of our supplies from the car into the truck with us. Two of the goons climb up front and start driving, in the opposite direction from Jasper. _Thank God._

When I turn to confront Eli, I find him and Bella huddled close, whispering heatedly.

"What the fuck?!" My shout draws the attention of Thing Two in the cab. He raps his gun against the glass of the rear window, pointing it at me in a clear _I'm watching you _gesture.

Eli frowns, staring at his feet. After a few minutes he murmurs, "These are the bad people I warned you about."

_Well fuck._

Bella: Sometime 2005

As I slowly regain consciousness, I am made immediately aware of three things.

First, the low moans and murmurs of the undead.

Second, an oppressive weight on my chest that impairs my breathing.

Third, a cloth over my face further hampers my vision in an already dark environment.

_What the fuck happened to me?_


	14. Chapter 14

__Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Alice: Winter 2005

I wrap the worn quilt more tightly around my shoulders. It's cold out this morning, cold enough to see my breath, and I don't have a coat.

Emmett is back at our tent, sleeping in. He'd be pissed if he knew where I am. We'd made an agreement; I'm never supposed to go anywhere alone when he's here.

The Camp seems like a relatively safe place to be. The constant presence of soldiers and tall barbed wire fences meant to offer security only make me feel imprisoned.

Emmett often goes on raids for supplies. I am terrified every time he leaves, but he believes it's worth it. Everyone who lives here is required to work, but he earns extra ration tickets for putting his life on the line. It earns us a few other small luxuries; a tent to ourselves, a cushy job in the kitchens for me. Part of my job is to deliver meals to the hospital staff. I even have a go-kart with an insulated rear compartment. I take advantage and visit my sister during my breaks.

We've been here six weeks and Bella hasn't woken up. We hadn't been at the first refugee camp more than twenty-four hours before the zombies over took the place. Thanks to Bella's bed in the hospital, the three of us were amongst the earliest evacuees. We've been here, somewhere in the mountains in North Carolina, ever since. I'm starting to wish I'd paid better attention in geography.

I shift from foot to foot and wait for the line to move forward. Waiting for water is bothersome, but necessary. Fresh water is like gold around here. You can buy a ten minute shower for three water ration tickets. I tried it once, but I know now it's not worth it. Each water ration is two gallons of drinkable water. Combined, Emmett and I only get six water tickets a week. Plus the showers are open for up to twenty people at a time, and the water is _freezing _cold.

At least with the fresh water, I can warm a bucketful over the fire back at our tent and wash up in privacy and relative comfort.

Emmett is always worrying that someone will mug me. I highly doubt anyone will attack me and steal my rations. However, I'm a realist, and I know I can't carry more than two gallons all the way back to our tent, so I only brought one ration ticket with me. Just before I reach the front of the line, a massive hand lands on my shoulder.

_Crap._

A quick glance confirms the paw belongs to my bear of a brother. No words are spoken. He's practically vibrating with suppressed anger. We each exchange one ticket and begin the trek back to our "home".

"What the hell Alice?" He grumbles.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, "I was letting you sleep in a little. You're exhausted." He just got back from a three day excursion last night. He probably didn't sleep the whole time he was gone and it had taken him hours of tossing and turning to finally pass out.

"You promised." He refuses to look at me, simply trudges along carrying all four gallons of water. He is certifiably upset. _Double crap._

"Calm down Mr. Banner." We both wince at my _Hulk_ reference. It's something Bella would have said. "I know why you're upset. I get it. You want to protect me."

We're back at the tent now. I sit on my cot and take a moment to study him carefully from the corner of my eye. "You know it's not your fault Emmett. The crash was an accident. Bella was too hopped up on adrenaline to know she was hurt. She had to make that jump." Bella's impromptu gymnastics had punctured a lung. Our best guess is that she had already broken or fractured a rib in the bus accident.

An emergency surgery had restored function of her collapsed lung (some medical term I didn't understand, pneumo-something or other), but infection had already set in. They kept her sedated while pumping her full of powerful antibiotics. She had been weaned off both already; she just refuses to wake up.

The doctor says we have no way of knowing if she suffered a severe head trauma, they do not have the diagnostic tools necessary to further examine her. Need stitches? We can do it. Got a broken arm? Let's set it. CAT scan? You're SOL, hun.

I visit her every day, to change her clothes and wash her hair. I _know_ she'll wake up. I can tell that it's getting harder for Em to have faith. We both want to get to Washington. I've never gone so long without talking to my parents.

Emmett flops back onto his cot, leaving me to start breakfast on the fire a few yards from our tent. We share it with two other families, taking turns paying for wood, and tending it at night. I set some water to boil, some for oatmeal, some to clean up with. When I return to my cot, he grumbles, "You shouldn't have been on that bus in the first place."

Before I can think of an appropriate response that won't sound like I'm biting his head off, the sirens begin going off. Noise attracts zombies, what the fuck are they thinking? We're under a constant noise ordinance for exactly that reason.

Unless the sirens are our only warning before the place is overrun.

"Bella!" I gasp. Before I can flee the tent in a panic, Emmett grabs my wrist. Pulling me back inside, he shoves my arms through the straps of a large, overfilled backpack. He shoves a crowbar into my hands, and then grips my shoulders.

"Alice, we have to split up. I know a way out; I've snuck supplies out to my Jeep a few times. I'm gonna go get the Jeep and drive right up to the med bay. You just need to be there to open the gate for me, okay? Get to Bella, get her bed to a safe place, barricade her in. Then get as close to the gate as you can. Hide and wait for me. I'll honk twice when I'm there." He pulls in for an all too brief hug before pulling back to slide on his own backpack. "We have to be quick about it. Run. Hide if you must. Avoid fighting them."

He meets my eyes one last time and I nod, "Find Bella, and hide her. Get to the gate, wait for the signal. Got it." Then we are both bolting out of the tent. Outside, our formally calm encampment has descended into gory chaos.

I freeze at my first real sight of the world outside these walls. Sixty-seven year old Mrs. Cope, one of the people with whom we'd shared the fire, sprawled halfway out of her tent, eyes glassy as her husband gnaws the flesh from her shoulder. My stomach lurches and Emmett shoots one last piece of advice over his shoulder, "Don't look. Run!"

And run I do.

Even though I haven't danced in months, I find I'm in fairly decent shape. I suppose fearing for my life helps. In no time I find myself at the "Medicine Hall". It's really just a collection of inter-connected trailers and tents. The thing is a freaking nightmarish maze.

Of course the generator has already failed and the whole place is dark. Thank goodness Bella is breathing without assistance, it's still daylight, and I know the place well from my frequent trips. However, the front entrance is out. I don't even need to get close enough to see it. I can hear the screams and moans from around the corner.

I am able to sneak in through the service door. This puts me close to the "Administration" area, where I can hear all the action. I have to walk right through those offices to get to Bella's ward.

Alice: Fall 2007

An insistent tapping sound wakes me from my dream memory. I'm still not sure how we survived that day All I really remember is that, after everything, I drove away in _Dragula_ with Bella at my side.

I'm almost grateful for the branch scraping against the passenger side window. Until I remember why we are here.

My sister. Kidnapped right before my eyes.

No wonder I'm dreaming of Emmett. I abandoned him too.

I rub my eyes while sneaking a peek at Jasper. He's slumped down in the reclined driver's seat, snoring softly with his mouth wide open. I was supposed to be on watch. We had driven south, sped right through Columbia (_will I ever make it out of this city?_) and onward, until Jasper was sure we weren't being followed. It was too late to set up any real camp, and neither of us had felt safe with the idea.

We had eventually found a driveway that led right up to this old drooping tree. Jasper had pulled the car forward and draped a forest green camo colored felt blanket over the outside rear end of the car. In the dark, you couldn't even tell we were parked here. We'd decided to sleep in the car.

_Tap tap taptap_

I suddenly realize it wasn't a tree branch that awoke me.

A gruff voice calls through the glass, "Please get out of the car. We don't want to hurt you. We just want to talk." I gasp as my whole body freezes. I know that voice.

Jasper startles awake, and my hand fumbles for the door handle. Turning to look out the rear window, I curse the blanket blocking my view.

I stumble out of the car, falling onto my hands and knees when Jasper tries to grab me. The hood from my sweatshirt has fallen over my face and I shove it back impatiently as I scramble back to my feet.

"Emmett!" I shriek, throwing myself at the man standing near the trunk of the car. He remains motionless for a moment, his body unyielding in my arms. I can't even close them all the way around his back.

Then he grips me by my shoulders, pushing me out to arm's length. "Alice!" He gasps, tears staining his cheeks as he studies my face for a moment before crushing me in a familiar bear hug.


	15. Chapter 15

__Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Jasper: Fall 2007

"Please get out of the car. We don't want to hurt you. We just want to talk." At first I think I'm dreaming, but Alice's small gasp has me jolting fully awake in seconds.

She turns, reaching for the door handle while trying to peer out the rear window. I try to grab her and fail miserably. _Dammit._

"Emmett!" She shouts as she stumbles out of the car. I climb quickly out my side, hands up in the universal gesture for _I'm unarmed_ wondering who the fuck Emmett is. I shut the door with my hip to keep Banjo in the car.

I watch as Alice tackles a huge man near the rear passenger side of the car, attempting to wrap her arms around his massive form. After a moment, he places his hands on her shoulders, pushing her away from his body and peering at her face before he cries her name and they embrace again.

There are three people with him, and they all have guns trained on me. They are obviously nervous, eyes flicking around us, to me, to Alice and the big guy, back to me.

I need some fucking answers.

Alice pulls away from Muscles slightly. She turns a beatific, water-logged, smile towards me, "Jasper, this is my big brother!"

Suddenly, I am mortified. During our trip for supplies, Bella had shared a few stories of their older adopted brother. I never learned what happened to him, you listen to stories about people, but you just don't ask where they are. We've all lost people, but what other Emmett would Alice be so excited to see?

"This is your sister Em?" One of the men, the one closest to the three of us, asks. With his greasy dark blonde hair pulled back in a low ponytail and a disturbing grin on his face as he eyes Alice, it's easy to see why Emmett immediately goes on the defensive.

"Yes." He answers coldly. Emmett levels a furious glare at Dimwit, which clearly reads, "_She's off limits." _The creep backs off, wandering around the car to take up a defensive position near the hood while casting sly glances at Alice that neither Emmett nor I miss.

Introductions are made, where I learn Slimeball is called Todd and the other two are Steve and Joe. Then Emmett climbs in our car to direct us to his temporary home.

The first few minutes of the drive are tense and quiet. Emmett is driving, Alice sits in the front seat wringing her hands, and I'm in the back mentally freaking out about rescuing my cousin. The air in the car is thick and heavy with Emmett's unasked question. _Where is Bella?_

Then, in true Alice fashion, she blurts out our whole story from the moment we met to the moment Emmett found us. Fortunately, she leaves out any mention of our pseudo relationship. I don't like the way he keeps glaring at me in the review, flexing those ridiculous muscles in a very _not _subtle manner.

"So she's alive?" He asks, looking to me for confirmation.

"Last time we saw them. I don't know where they were taken. I would have followed them but I had to get Alice away." Once again, I am torn between the familial bond and the promise I made Bella.

Emmett and a handful of survivors are holed up inside the fences of Columbia Regional Airport.

Alice: Winter 2005

Crouching behind a desk in the first room past the service entrance of the Medicine Hall, I twist Em's crowbar in my hands trying to work up the nerve to make a mad dash through Administration. Just making it to the long term care ward where my sister sleeps is a terrifyingly impossible task, but there is no time to waste. I have to save her.

I close my eyes and listen carefully to the sounds in the rooms next door. The screaming from before has subsided and all I hear now are the low moans and rasps of the undead. The strange shuffling, irregular thumps of walkers, and the wet, sliding, tearing, gurgle of zombie's gnawing on flesh.

Another deep breath and I will my legs into motion. I quickly slip through the first set of doors, narrowly avoiding a walker just behind it. Someone has trapped the zombie with a desk and I am able to skirt around it. I avoid the dark shapes and huddles on the ground. Even in daylight, with windows few and far between, I can't see clearly enough to believe the blotches are just shadows.

For the amount of noise from outside, I'd thought there were more undead here. I make it to Bella's room unscathed. I barricade the door, and then quickly load up as many medical supplies as I can fit in the already overstuffed bag. This place is over run, I don't feel a moment's guilt over my theft. Bandages, rubbing alcohol, peroxide, sterile needles, sutures, gauze… Everything I can find. Especially pads and tampons, Mother Nature is a cruel bitch.

The bag is now too heavy for me to carry, so I put it on Bella's gurney. Moving her from the bed to the bed with wheels is much less difficult than I anticipated; she's lost so much weight. Peering through the door to Bella's ward, I realize getting Bella out of here is going to be a lot harder than getting myself in.

I look around the room for ideas, but the most obvious choice fractures my heart. Bella has three roommates; all three are unconscious and will die once the emergency batteries wear out on their life support equipment. My stomach revolts as I again seriously consider what I am about to do. But what choice do I have? I can't fight the half dozen or so zeds at the end of the hall, and who knows how many others, while pushing a gurney.

"I'm so sorry." I whisper to patient A, an old woman in the bed next to Bella, I don't take the time to check her chart. Knowing her name will make this harder. I pull the IV from her arm and blood stains her standard issue hospital gown. I'm not sure this is enough to attract the zeds attention, so I remove the pulse monitor from her finger. As a steady high pitched beep fills the air; I push Bella from the room in the opposite direction from the stumbling corpses. Before I turn the corner, I spare one last guilty glance in the direction of the patients who unknowingly gave their lives for my sister.

It takes much longer to navigate the dark halls and interconnecting trailers of the hospital while pushing Bella. I often have to backtrack and duck into empty rooms, just to hide Bella and lure a few zombies away. This frequent doubling back nearly triples the time it takes to get to the "Garage". The garage is actually just covered parking near the back gate of the refugee center. It's where they keep the emergency vehicles, connected to the hospital for easy evacuation. Obviously there will be no evacuation.

Emmett hid _Dragula_ a few blocks outside the perimeter weeks ago. He had driven it here as part of the evac from our first stop in Georgia. If he was alright and if he had made good time, he still wouldn't be at the gate yet. As I peer through the window at the garage from the final trailer, my stomach plummets.

Someone, or several, had already attempted this escape route. One ambulance has crashed into the other, its rear doors blown open, the whole vehicle on fire. Terrible aim, guns, and oxygen tanks do not mix. There are no other vehicles.

The gate is partially open, walkers spilling through in a slow trickle. There are more than three dozen zombies between us and that gate.

First things first, I barricade us in while keeping as quiet as possible, making sure I'm able to quickly clear the exit. _Am I going to die here?_ I put thoughts like that aside and sip from a bottle of water while I wait for Emmett's grand entrance. _What if he doesn't come?_

Before I can dissolve into panic, a hoarse voice calls me.

"Bella!" I gasp aloud, flying to the gurney as she tries to sit up. "Wait, wait!" I whisper hurriedly, waving my hands at her frantically. She stops moving, listening to the telltale sounds from outside. I don't have time to ask her what she remembers from before, or to explain what is going on, a loud screeching crash followed by the rapid pops of machine gun fire fill the air around us.

I wrap my arm around her shoulders as she slides off the bed. Her legs tremble with the effort to hold her weight and she nearly collapses. I lean her back against the gurney, grab my overburdened bag and sling it over my shoulder. I offer her a drink of water from my bottle. She takes a few sips and I take it back before she can make herself sick. I quickly unblock the door and peer outside.

Emmett stands alone behind his Jeep just inside the mangled gate, wasting bullets like Pam Anderson wastes oxygen, tearing through zeds like so much wheat ready for harvest. The noise will be attracting more and I know that we only have a narrow window of time to make it through the path Emmett has cleared for us.

So we run. We run as fast as a drastically overburdened girl and her gimp sister can be expected to run. This, as it turns out, is way slower than you'd imagine. We aren't much faster than the dead, but we manage to stay ahead, to get close enough to our brother to differentiate between the black of his pupils and the gold of his irises.

Simultaneously, Bella trips and Emmett runs out of ammo.


	16. Chapter 16

__**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.**____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Bella: Fall 2007

Eli's voice breaks as he confesses, "These are the bad people I warned you about."

_Well fuck._

None of us have anything to say after that. We have been bound by rope at the wrists and anchored to the truck. Needless to say, it is not a fun ride. There isn't anywhere to sit without placing myself in reach of the occasional zombie, and the rope pulls my arms and burns my wrists.

I finally shuffle around to the front of the truck, closer to our captors though I loathe drawing attention to myself. My aching shoulders and wrists cannot take the pressure anymore, so I sit, leaning back against the cab. The rope is short and my arms are still extended, but I am safe from zombies and can rest my arms on my knees.

Eli joins me, further restricted by his short limbs; he can't reach the cab window, and so leans back against my legs instead. Edward remains standing towards the rear, glaring at Eli, sometimes glaring at me.

I wonder what we are up against, and how Eli got mixed up with these people in the first place.

He cries in his sleep every night. I often go to bed alone and wake with a pint sized space heater hogging all the covers on one side, and a smelly furry mutt on the other. Eli and I had come to an unspoken agreement. He wouldn't talk about the nightmares, and I wouldn't ask.

Now I wish I'd asked. At least I might have an inkling of what awaits us.

I'm not sure how long I sit here drifting in and out of shock before I finally realize two things.

They put our supplies in the truck with us. All of our supplies, including the duffel bag with my new lucky sword. They hadn't bothered to go through anything yet. Secondly, the men crammed into the truck cab aren't paying any attention to us, there seems to be a lot of action involving a portable radio of some kind.

It's almost too easy.

Bella: 2005

As I slowly regain consciousness, I am made immediately aware of three things.

First, the low moans and murmurs of the undead.

Second, an oppressive weight on my chest that impairs my breathing.

Third, a cloth over my face further hampers my vision in an already dark environment. It takes way more effort than it should to pull the sheet from my face. When my hands brush my chest I do not find anything, still my lungs struggle to expand as I greedily draw in air.

I can see my sister across the room through the slanting light from a partially barricaded door. I try to call her name, but my throat and mouth are cotton.

"Bella!" She cries, rushing to me as I try to sit up, she stops me and I listen more closely to the terrible noises so close by. My mind struggles to connect the dots, what are those sounds? As the loud rapid pops of machine gun fire fill the air, a series of images flash through my mind like a newsreel.

_Motherfucking zombies?!_

My stomach churns and I nearly fall off the gurney, but Alice is there, supporting me. She helps me catch my balance, and then grabs a massive bag from the bed. I greedily gulp the water she offers me and almost immediately regret it as my stomach lurches. I don't fight her when she takes the bottle back. I stumble along leaning heavily on her shoulder as we cross the room, then fight to catch my breath while she unblocks the door. How the hell am I going to run?

We scramble through the small opening in the door as quickly as we can. My labored breaths are deafening in my ears, along with my thundering heartbeat. The gunfire, the moans of the undead are muted and I just focus on my feet.

My stomach aches, my lungs burn, my legs falter… Move Bella! I will my feet forward, one in front of the other, almost there…

I step in a pothole, my ankle twists, and down I go. My childhood clumsiness rears its ugly head.

It's quiet except for the ringing in my ears…

Alice is pulling my arm, screaming at me. I can see her lips move, but all I hear is that high pitched keen.

Suddenly Emmett is there, scooping me up off the ground, sprinting towards the Jeep, Alice right beside him. She climbs in first and hops over into the driver seat, slinging her bag into the back.

Emmett drops me into the passenger seat, grabs a shotgun from the floorboard and slams the door shut. We watch as he runs around _Dragula _and hops into the back. The zombies are too close. Alice floors it and the tires squeal as we take off. With no time to adjust the seat, she is practically standing on the pedals.

I watch in horror as gnarled hands grasp onto Emmett's clothes, dragging him from the back. My mind catalogues every horrible second as his eyes widen in shock and fear. His face twists in panic and he is gone from my view.

I am sobbing and screaming at Alice but she just keeps driving. As tears stream down both our faces, I realize I'll never forgive her.

Bella: 2007

I jolt awake as the truck lurches beneath me. _Dammit. _I am immediately furious with myself for falling asleep. It's nearly dark and I am unsure how much time has passed. _Double dammit._

It becomes immediately clear to me that the truck has come to a sudden halt. Surrounded by zeds, we are being abandoned by the assholes up front.

Why am I always waking up in these situations?

Eli is crying and tugging at the ropes binding his wrists, his panicked eyes seek mine and I nod towards my bag. It doesn't take long to locate my pocket knife and free ourselves, but we are all three crammed into the center of the truck bed, barely maintaining enough distance from the groping hands reaching over the truck bed in the dark.

We are fully surrounded and I have no idea how we are getting out of this one.

"Left side!" Edward yells. The zombies are coming from the right side of the truck through a clump of trees by the roadside, there are fewer on the left of the vehicle. If we move quickly we can clear a path and run for it. I waste no time hacking and slashing with my sword. I don't do a pretty job of it, but my frantic attacks make a hole that Edward immediately takes advantage of.

He jumps down swinging his golf club in an arc. I make Eli go next, and he sticks close to Edward using my old bat to clear some room for me.

I climb down quickly and carefully, this is exactly the wrong time to sprain my ankle, and the three of us begin to run. We loop around down a dirt road and back to the highway, headed back the way we came. It doesn't take us long to lose the majority of the crowd. Being faster and smarter than the dead is easy; it's the people we are really running from.

So when the large white van crests a hill half a mile away speeding down the highway in the same direction our captors had been taking us, we duck into the ditch and stay hidden as they drive on by. Only they don't keep driving. The van comes to a halt only a dozen yards away, its lights glaring over our heads. If we move, the shadows will change and they will surely notice us.

No one in their right mind goes out at this time of night. Zeds are always more agitated, and plentiful, in the dark. Just the fact that this vehicle is out with bright blinding lights puts me on edge.

After what seems like an eternity, the driver side door opens and someone gets out. As the driver walks in front of the headlights, I can make out the silhouette of a large intimidating figure. A strange silence falls over the night.

"There's nothing here Alice." The driver says.

As recognition dawns I gasp, "Emmett!" My shock renders me motionless, but he still hears me. He takes one step toward me and a sharp pain lances through my nerve endings as teeth sink into my calf. Fire races up my spine and I cannot contain the bloodcurdling scream that rends itself from my throat.


	17. Chapter 17

__Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.____ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!__

* * *

Bella: 2007

_As recognition dawns I gasp, "Emmett!" My shock renders me motionless, but he still hears me. As he takes his first step toward me a sharp pain lances through my nerve endings as teeth sink into my calf. Fire races up my spine and I cannot contain the bloodcurdling scream that rends itself from my throat._

Time has ceased its ever constant forward motion. The white-hot pain racing up my leg turns my brain to mush, I am temporarily blinded as my lungs fold in on themselves and I suffocate.

Then, the world around me lurches and the clock starts ticking at an accelerated rate. I watch the side door of the van open, Alice, Banjo, and Jasper all tumble out at super speed. They race towards me and I catch a glimpse of Emmett's horrified face as my gaze is tugged downwards…

I am mildly surprised I don't find a zombie gnawing on my bone. Instead, I find Eli pressing a rag to the gaping wound in my calf, his tear-streaked face smears with blood as he tries to wipe the dampness from his cheeks.

_Oh, _I realize, _Edward already killed it. _My eyes pass over the mangled corpse Edward is still walloping with his club before my mind loses its struggle with consciousness.

I drift in and out of awareness for what seems like years. My eyelids are heavy and dry, my limbs are leaden, and always there is an excruciating fire scorching through my veins. It's festering epicenter in my left leg pulses and throbs with each beat of my heart. My charred brain cannot function.

Through it all, I keep quiet. I bite my tongue and swallow my screams. I am rewarded with snippets of conversations.

"- don't want her here because she's bitten? Then we're leaving. You wouldn't have those vans, those supplies, or your sorry _lives _without me. I'm taking half-"

"I'm so sorry Bella; I was supposed to watch your back. I left Emmett behind, and then I left you-" My sister's guilt gives me something to focus on. In my lucid moments, I think of all the things I need to say to her. I want to hold her and wipe away her tears. I need to tell her how proud I am of her… I hear the low murmur of Jasper's voice, but can't make out what he says. I am so thankful he is there to help her.

Alice's voice is soft, "-should've changed by now…"

Eons later I begin to regain feeling in the toes of my right foot. The sensation spreads slowly up my leg and eventually painful pins and needles encompass my entire right side. My left arm shares in this awful awakening, but I can't feel anything from my left knee down. I am too afraid to open my eyes.

Emmett: Winter 2007

"Pull over."

"Alice," I start, but she cuts me off with The Look.

Most people don't get it, but I learned never to bet against Alice. When I was eight and Alice was only three, she told me Twoface was going to die. Alice just knows shit sometimes. Most people hate things they can't understand, and Alice grew up lonely for it. Growing up, we Swans were very close because we had to be.

Twoface, the neighborhood stray cat, loved to visit our home. She wasn't allowed in because Charlie was allergic, believe me I tried. I gave her the cans of tuna Renee always bought but nobody ate. Twoface would come to our back porch some evenings, purr, butt my hand, and then disappear, often for weeks at a time. One half of her face was orange, the other half black. Even her eyes were different colors! I loved that cat.

One night, Alice woke from a nightmare and told me Twoface would die. I didn't think much of it. Mary Alice was always telling tales, but most were silly nonsense princess stories. The next day while I was at school, Twoface was hit by a car right in front of our house. Charlie and Renee knew how much I loved the cat and took her to the vet. She didn't make it. I blamed Alice even though I knew better. Twoface's death had reopened scars left by my birth parents.

In time, I learned death is an equal part of life. I forgave Alice for a crime she didn't commit, but I never again ignored her intuition.

So when she gave me The Look, I pulled over.

I cut the engine and shut the door behind me, but leave the lights on. I can't see anything, and after several minutes I don't hear anything unusual either. Alice cracks the window of the van and I tell her there's nothing here to find.

I hear a loud gasp from my left and my head automatically turns towards the noise. There, just visible over the ditch, is my sister. I would recognize those eyes anywhere. She is literally caught in the headlights.

_Bella!_ I don't even realize I'm moving towards her.

Her eyes widen suddenly and she screams.

I know that terror, that level of pain. I've seen it happen before. There are only a few steps between us, but by the time I reach her Bella has already passed out. There's some kid with her, probably Eli, and some guy going _Ninja Assassin _on a corpse.

Jasper decides to address that issue, "Edward, man, it's dead…" He grabs the flying golf club and restrains his cousin.

I turn my attention to my baby sister.

Alice is sobbing over Bella, just losing her shit, and Eli is pressing a cloth to the wound. The dog paces anxiously around Bella's prone form, alternating between whining and panting.

"Move." I order, more forcefully than I'd intended, and they all three comply without comment.

Before I can contemplate a tourniquet, Eli offers his belt and I wrap it tightly just below Bella's knee. I lift her while attempting to keep the wound covered and rush back to the van.

After I lay her across the bench seat in the very back, I hop out. "Keep pressing this on her leg; try to stop the blood flow." I thrust the bloodied rag back into Eli's hands. At his hesitation, Alice takes it from him and climbs in the back. Everyone else piles in and I race back down the Highway.

During the hour long drive, Edward and Eli fill us in on what happened to them.

"They threw us in the back of the truck and tied our hands down. The idiots put our supplies in with us and I wasn't even paying attention. Bella was though." Edward pauses, raking a hand through his hair, "They kept driving us in circles. Maybe trying to avoid walkers, maybe to lose anyone who might be following, fuck if I know. Bella and Eli passed out about midday, but I refused to go to sleep. I was trying to figure a way out."

"After dark, we got surrounded;" Eli continues, "Greg and the others ran the truck into a ditch then left us to die. Bella showed me her knife, she couldn't reach it but I could. Once we got loose we ran for it, following the highway because it was too dark… Then we saw your van, and hid in the ditch. I should've seen it, I should've been watching…" The kid was crying too hard to say anything else, but Jasper hugs him and assures him it wasn't his fault. He finally passes out and remains asleep the rest of the ride.

It takes way too long to convince my group to let us in once they discover Bella has been bitten. We always search everyone for bites and scratches before letting them in. We don't let people back in if they are infected. Ever.

I don't give a fuck. I tell them I'll take my shit and leave. They don't like that option either, but they don't have a choice. They might need me, but they need me starting trouble even less. They owe me. I convince the resident nurse to clean and stitch Bella up, trading a fifth of cheap whiskey for her help.

Before we leave, Todd tries to guilt trip me with stories of the people north of town. The ones who tried, and failed, to kidnap Bella? Yeah, not my problem anymore.

"Anyone who doesn't want to stay here better get a move on. You're more than welcome to join us." A couple of people take me up on that offer, probably in fear of the rednecks up north, good thing the van is a twenty seater. I attach a trailer to the back to carry our supplies. Jasper and Edward drive the little hatchback so we can lay down the backseat and make a comfortable place for Bella to lie. It's slow going, because we take every precaution, but for the first time in years, I'm headed home.

I have been awake over seventy-two hours. To say I am exhausted is a gross understatement. We decide to set up camp early so we can all get some good rest. Alice is eager to check on Bella. With a little pleading, Alice attempts to convince Jasper, Edward, and me to move Bella out of sight of the others, and then watch over them while Alice cleans her up a bit.

I don't understand why we're going through the motions. She's been _bitten_, she's dying. Nothing we do will help her. Nothing can ease her pain. Not even a sponge bath to cool her fever.

When I open my mouth to argue, Alice gives me that damn Look again. _Fuck._

"Look. She should've changed by now." She says quietly, gesturing towards Bella.

Alice leans over our sister and pulls her left sleeve up. Bella's skin is so pale, tinged red with heat. More importantly, there is a crescent shaped scar marring her flesh.

"What the hell?!" I gasp.

Alice nods knowingly. "She's been bitten before. I never even knew. She always wore long sleeves… I don't know how she could have hidden _this,"_ she waves her arm out, the gesture encompassing Bella's fragile form; "I don't know how she could have hidden this sickness from me, again and again. But that isn't her only bite mark."

It takes a minute for that to sink in; my foggy brain struggles to connect the dots. I still haven't fully grasped this concept when Jasper exclaims, "She's immune?!"

_Holy shit!_ Bella is immune to the zombie virus.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.**__ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!_

* * *

Alice: Fall 2007

I shiver and pull the blanket closed around my shoulders. This winter is looking to be as miserable as our last. We hadn't been prepared for the cold and were caught in a bad storm somewhere in Tennessee. Bella and I were lucky enough to, literally, stumble upon a cabin with a root cellar and basement. We didn't have coats, just hoodies and a few blankets. There was a fireplace, but not in the basement, which is where Bella insisted we stay. Those couple of weeks were wretched.

This year, we have more people, more help, but we're on the move. It's been three days since Bella woke up, she passed out again almost immediately. Since then we've been driving north by day and camping at night. Traveling mostly on old highways and back roads to avoid major cities and thoroughfares. (And hopefully, people with poor intentions.) It's slow going, but we've managed to avoid major disasters. Bella has slept the whole time. Jasper assures me it's a good sign._ She doesn't have a fever, she's just healing. Her body needs rest._

I take a deep breath and refocus on my task. Jasper and I are collecting twigs and kindling for tonight's fire. More accurately, I'm collecting kindling and Jasper is watching for walkers. Every chore is done in pairs, even toileting. Just in case.

It's getting dark and the wind is getting colder. Even with my hoodie, Emmett's extra sweatshirt over the top, _and_ the blanket I'm wearing like a cape, I'm still freezing and ready to head back. Plus, I want to check on Bella.

Once I've collected a sufficient amount of twigs and dry leaves in my backpack, and Jasper is loaded down with bundles of larger sticks (he insisted), we return to camp. Thankfully, Emmett chopped a few big logs at our last stop, so we aren't over laden.

The short walk is made in companionable silence. Jasper has such a calming influence; I rarely feel the need to fill the air with nervous chatter. It's dark now, but fortunately the moon is full. Its bright rays slant through the treetops and paint the landscape black and white.

When Jasper moves ahead of me to climb down a hill, I seize my chance to gaze at him without his knowledge. He's gorgeous, who can blame me?

His golden curls are bleached in the darkness, falling into his eyes since he refused the haircut I offered yesterday. At the bottom of the hill, he turns back to face me, his eyes capturing mine. In the daylight, he has the most beautiful blue eyes, but now they darken as something sparks in their fathomless depths.

He sets his burden down and offers me his hand. My stomach turns and I feel my face heat; hopefully it's too dark to see my blush. My fingers tingle when they brush his palm; his hand closes around mine and warms me from head to curling toes. I gasp as I lose my footing on shifting leaves and slip about a foot in the mud.

My arm windmills and clasps on Jasper's free arm, while my other hand grasps his embarrassingly hard. Once I'm stable, I take a few deep breaths while my heart races and I regain my bearings.

_Oh, he smells so good. No one has the right to smell this good during the zombie apocalypse._

Only a few moments have passed before I realize that not only am I sniffing Jasper, I am pressed against him from chest to knees.

_Holy shit!_

My face flames again and I try to step back. Right onto that slick spot on the hill. I don't have a chance to lose my footing again, as Jasper hasn't released me from his iron grip.

He chuckles lightly and I wonder if I cursed aloud and not mentally. I open my mouth, some kind of word vomit right on the tip of my tongue, but he silences me by raising his hand to cup my cheek. My heart stutters, then pounds in a furious rhythm.

"Alice?" He breathes. I love the way he says my name. It sounds like a prayer. I lift my head from his chest, looking up at him. Even when I'm standing on an incline like this, he is still quite a bit taller than me. Yet somehow, when his lips meet mine, we fit perfectly.

Bella: 2007

I crack my eyes open slowly. I don't remember going to sleep, and that scares me. Still, just like any other day, I play dead while checking my surroundings. I'm lying in a pile of pillows and blankets in the back of a car. The rear seat has been laid down, and I have plenty of room to stretch out. My "bed" isn't very comfortable, but it's clear someone has been caring for me and has done the best they could with what they had.

I can't tell what time it is, but I think it must be late afternoon, possibly evening. I can't see the sun through the window, it's a cloudy day. Windy too, judging by the way the car rocks as the wind whistles around it.

I stretch carefully, taking a mental inventory of my aches and pains. Most of the pain centers in my lower back and left calf. The lower back pain is clearly from my uncomfortable position, but my leg... Images dance behind my eyelids... _Fuck!_ I was bitten again! Even worse- Alice _saw_! It's taken so much subterfuge over the past two years to keep my secret, especially from my sister...

Another kernel of thought reminds me of Emmett. _He's alive! _I **know** I saw him, just before that zed got me. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Only I would find my long lost, allegedly _dead_ brother and then screw up so astronomically.

The front passenger door of the car opens and my eyes snap shut. I'm still not sure where I am, or with whom. I need to find my siblings. Someone climbs in and the door shuts quietly.

After several minutes of silence except for the sounds of two people breathing, my mystery guest speaks.

"We really need you to wake up now Bella. Alice and Eli are so worried about you, but they both seem confident you'll be okay. Jasper too; he told me you're too tough for one zombie." I recognize Edward, but his tone throws me off. He sounds wretched.

Tears prick my eyes as he continues, "Why wasn't I watching you? You're always watching our backs and I failed you when you needed me to have yours. God Bella... I'll never be able to make this up to you. You almost died!

"Eli blames himself, but we keep reminding him- he's just a kid you know? It's not his job to take care of the grown-ups...And I know Emmett blames me. He says he doesn't, but I don't believe him. He keeps watching me, like he's trying to figure me out; or maybe plotting my demise.

"I know it was my fault..."

I really can't take it anymore. He isn't looking at me, and I've been trying to get my vocal chords to work. My mouth is sticking to my mouth. My teeth have grown foul tasting fuzzies and I am shocked he can't hear me smacking my dry lips together over his oppressive self-loathing.

"Edw-" I don't manage to finish the word, but I do manage to shut him up. His eyes snap to mine in the review mirror and I try to convey two things with my gaze. '_Not your fault_' and '_I need water, please_' as I grasp my dry throat.

The next few minutes are a flurry of activity as Edward practically falls out of the car in his haste to fetch my siblings. I don't know what they are off doing, but Eli's is the next face I see. In the midst of our tearful reunion Edward returns with a water bottle and Emmett in tow.

Observing Emmett, I catalog the changes since I last saw him. He's thinner, but still visibly stronger than most men. There is a long scar on the right side of his face, from an inch below the corner of his eye. It almost meets the corner of his mouth. His eyes are wide and full of relief. He barely fits in the back of the tiny car, filling up all the space Eli and I aren't using, before wrapping me in a tight hug.

I can barely breathe, but when Emmett's shoulders start to shake with suppressed sobs, I can't help the tears that spill and streak my face. "You're alive, you're okay..." He mumbles over and over. My sentiments exactly. As dehydrated as I am, I have no idea how I have tears to cry.

When he finally pulls back, his red-rimmed eyes scan my face and body. I wipe the tears from my cheeks with the back of my sleeve, before taking the water from Edward, who stands just outside the open back door. Bitingly cold wind rushes in, and I ask him to shut the door. His face falls as he steps back, shutting the door before I can elaborate. I meant for him to climb back in the front seat, so we can all talk and still be warm. I'll have to apologize later.

I take a small sip of water, swishing it around to moisten my mouth before taking a few drinks. I recap the bottle when it's only half gone, I don't want to overdo it. My stomach feels iffy and I wonder how long it's been since I ate anything.

"What happened?" I croak. It's a redundant question. I should have asked what had happened while I was out of it.

Emmett understands what I meant and quickly fills me in. Three days?! I've never been so sick after a bite. It must have been a bad one.

Without pausing to think of my company, I push myself up a bit to reach my leg. I pull up the sweat pants I'm wearing to expose the bandage before carefully peeling it back to check the damage. There is an oval shaped bite unlike any I've had before.

After the end of the world, as time passed, zombies decomposed. The older the zombie, the smaller the threat. Weakened, decayed muscles equate a weakened bite. I've even encountered zeds with no jaw, or decomposing into the ground. Most of my bite scars are really just scrapes I received when a zombie grazed my limb with its teeth. Even that small a zombie wound is enough to start the infection and change, except in me. I should have zombified dozens of times over; yet I'm still here to tell the tale.

I suppose that's why I baby Alice. I'll survive a bite; I don't know that she will.

This bite however, is an almost perfect dental record. It's oval shaped and deep. I can even make out individual teeth. That zombie must have been fresh. I wonder where it came from? Was it one of the men who captured us?

Someone has cleaned the wound and stitched me up. This could have been so much worse. I really would have died if I hadn't had help. I've never been in this much trouble. A simple scrape on my arm was easy enough to hide from my sister; I always wore long sleeves to hide my scars. This is something I wouldn't have been able to conceal.

Eli's choked sob catches my attention. I forgot he was here. I press the bandage back down, pressing into the tape so it will hold.

Wordlessly, I open my arms and Eli tackles me back into my makeshift bed. I don't know what to say to make this better, so I just hold him. I stroke his hair and murmur soft nothings into his ear. I tell him it wasn't his fault, and I thank him for his part in rescuing me.

He falls asleep in my arms, and eventually I drift off as well.

I'm not sure how much time passes, but it seems only minutes before the back door is yanked open so hard it shakes the whole vehicle. Emmett and Eli are both gone. It's dark now, and I can't really make out the features of my new visitor, however the dark figure before me is too tiny to be anyone other than my sister.

She climbs into my bed and wraps her tiny arms around me. "Why Bella? Why didn't you tell me?" I'm not really sure how to answer this question. _I did it to protect you Alice... or was I really protecting myself?_

"Millions of people in the world are dead because of this virus. I'm the only one I know who is immune. I was terrified of telling anyone. It was only two days after Emmett died... Well I guess we lost him huh? After we lost Emmett, the first time I got bit I didn't know what to do. I thought I was dying and there would be no one to help you get home... I hid the bite from you and tried to push on.

"I was desperate; I just wanted to get you as close as I could before the end for me..."

"I remember," Alice mutters, and I know she's thinking of the those few days I pushed us, frantically trying to teach Alice any and everything she might need to know to survive, when all we both wanted was to curl up in a corner somewhere and mourn our brother. "But then it healed and you still didn't tell me."

I winced before reminding her, "That was when we met the White's."

The White's were a family we found holed up in a Wal-Mart. Doug, his wife Katie, and his brother Brad seemed like nice enough people; until they tried to force us into servitude. When I made it clear I would not tolerate that treatment for anyone, they locked us in the employee break room. It was obvious we weren't the first people they kept here. Late that night, Katie came to us. She taunted us as she spoke of her husband's plan. Apparently, he wanted meat.

I panicked. I don't remember much of that night, but I do remember struggling with my restraints while Katie beat Alice for fun. Katie's biggest mistake was turning her back on me, leaving herself and her weapon wide open. I murdered someone that night. Possibly several someone's, as the gun shot attracted zombies right into the White's hidey-hole.

Alice insists it was self-defense, but the blood on my hands darkens my soul and still makes my heart heavy any time I think of it.

"Can you imagine if someone like that had discovered I'm immune?"


	19. Chapter 19

_**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.**__ I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!_

* * *

Alice: Winter 2007

_We run down the docks of Seattle's Thunderbird Marina, and decide to steal a small, abandoned cruiser. It seems to be in relatively good shape, for how long it must have sat here. It's still afloat anyway._

_Boating isn't really Bella's thing, at least the driving part. When it's the whole family, or just me and dad, I drive. It's the one thing Charles Swan and I have in common. We like to go fast._

_There isn't time for a serious inspection of the boat, zeds are crowding onto the dock and there is nowhere else for us to go._

_Amazingly, everyone boards and I get the engine running, just in time to pull away from the dock before the biters reach us. Our trip passes with relative ease as Bella navigates, across Lake Union to Shilshole Bay. North past Bainbridge Island, out towards Port Townsend and westish until we almost reach La Push. Then it's nearly a straight shot into open waters to reach Isle Swan._

_We pass the time exchanging plans for our arrival. I'm just so thankful Jasper, and Edward by extension, decided to come with us after all._

_It's twilight when I finally spot that familiar shoreline. It's obvious right away that someone has been here; new buildings and fences have been erected. Bella and I exchange wide smiles. Joy bubbles up within me when I spot a lone, tall figure standing on the beach, a few yards inland from the dock._

_We moor quickly and I race up the uneven wooden planks, the closer I get, the more apparent the man on the beach is my father._

_"Daddy!" Charlie starts, lifting his head slowly, before turning around just before I reach him. I'm frozen in horror when I spot his wide milky eyes; the large bite on his arm is still blood red. He's only recently died._

_I scream as he lunges at me._

I wake disoriented, tears already staining my cheeks. I fell asleep last night in the back of the car with Bella. I peek at my sister, hoping she miraculously slept through my nightmare. Bella is curled in a ball, clutching her injured leg to her chest. _Oh fudge. _I must have kicked her in my sleep.

"I'm so sorry!"

Bella just shakes her head at me. "You didn't mean to, you were sleeping."

A few minutes pass as Bella nurses her leg. When the pain finally eases, she stretches out beneath the blanket, finally rolling onto her side to face me. "Wanna talk?"

Unsurprisingly, I still can't hide anything from my sister. "I had a dream. We got to the island and found dad. He... he was one of them." My voice quivers involuntarily and I try to contain my tears.

Bella scoffs, "It was just a nightmare Alice. The island is safe, and dad is there waiting for us."

I know she's just saying it to make me feel better. I know now, she's just as scared as I am. If Bella can suck it up and keep fighting, so can I. We _will_ see our parents alive again.

"So... What's going on with you and Jasper?"

My blush gives me away.

This time, Bella's distraction works as I launch into an in-depth confession of Jasper and our moonlit kiss.

Neither of us realized Emmett heard everything from his spot in the front seat.

The next morning, Bella joins me at the campfire to cook breakfast. Looks like we'll actually have something edible this morning. I mostly just do what she tells me while she rests nearby under a few blankets.

I don't mind. I'm able to zone out and really think about what she said last night, before my nightmare.

What if the wrong people knew Bella was immune? Would they enslave her? Experiment on her? Hold me hostage in order to control her?

My imagination shows me dozens of possibilities, all of them gruesome, and I begrudgingly admit, perhaps it's a good thing Bella hid this. Even from me.

The sun is just trying to peek through the clouds on the horizon when the others begin to join us. Mostly just Emmett's group. The boys are suspiciously absent.

We spend the rest of the day tearing down camp so we can leave first thing in the morning, but I don't see Jasper, Edward, or Emmett all day.

They finally join us after dark for a late dinner. Jasper sits on the opposite side of the fire from me and disappears immediately after the meal.

There is only one possible culprit: Emmett!

Charlie: December 2005

Zombies.

Flesh eating monsters.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, it all seems like a distant nightmare to many.

Not to me.

Not to Renee.

Our three children are out there, beyond the quarantine, in the middle of this hell.

Few in Forks can sympathize. Most of our tiny town grew up here, their parents and grandparents grew up here. Everyone they know is still safe here. Most of the complaining I hear has to do with the lack of certain supplies.

So what if we've run out of coffee?

My baby girls could be starving. They could be dead. Did they cry for me as they were eaten alive?

My stomach churns and my eyelids burn, but I choke back the tears with the last gulp of my lukewarm tea. No more coffee, remember?

It's time to go.

Forks has been rapidly converted into a massive refugee center. Most of the town's central buildings are now enclosed with barbed wire fences and round the clock militia patrols. Most of the town has already abandoned their homes for the relative safety of the temporary housing in the high school. The athletic fields have been overrun by the biggest tents I've ever seen.

Today I will be assisting the first of Seattle's evacuees. These are the smart ones, the people that evacuate when it's only a recommendation. Over the next few weeks, Forks' population will more than triple.

February 2006

The situation has deteriorated quickly. Forks is no longer safe.

I still don't know what happened to my children.

Renee struggles. She doesn't want to leave Forks, insisting the children will show up tomorrow if we just wait one more day. We have no way to contact them; we have no idea where they are or if they're still alive. The last time I spoke with them, I told them to go to the island.

Then everything changes. I see my first walker in Forks. Renee sees her first walker, ever. A refugee living across the hall from us at the high school recently lost her husband and brother when they were overcome while out on patrol. She committed suicide. Renee found her.

Until that point, no one knew you didn't have to be bitten. Everyone who dies becomes one of them.

Renee's attitude about leaving does an abrupt about face.

"If Emmett, Alice, and Bella are going to Isle Swan, so are we." Renee starts packing immediately.

My mustache hides my relieved smirk, "Yes dear." I have no idea what I am getting myself into.

Renee invites her new best friend. An invitation that includes Esme's husband and daughter. So now I have three more people to keep alive. Esme's son and nephew were in Missouri when this whole mess started and never made it home. Esme and Renee are complete and total opposites in personality, united in grief.

By the time we arrive at the gates, we have a group of dozens. Most are locals, following me out because they trust me. For the first time in my very long career, I just don't give a damn about the people of Forks. I want my children, but I am trapped within the quarantine zone. I can't go after them.

I let these people follow us because it's easier than saying no.

Few of them make it.

I am worried the army won't let us leave. Turns out, they don't really care who leaves. Just what they are leaving with.

My guns, and many of my companions, are privately owned and registered. The army _lets_ us keep them, but they confiscate most of our ammo.

They don't even touch our food.

I suppose this is the world now.

* * *

_A/N: Hello? Is there anybody out there?_

_It's been awhile, how's it going? Review and let me know what you think!_

_Also, I went back and edited the entire story. Adding a few little tidbits and fixed some continuity issues. You don't have to reread it, but if you're into that, let me know what you think and if you spot any differences._


	20. Chapter 20

_**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.**__I'm only writing this for fun (and hopefully your amusement) and have/will make no profit. This is all just a made up world, loosely based on reality- fact checking is a waste of your time and totally ruins my fun. Please review!_

* * *

Bella: Winter 2007

I am awake before the sun comes up.

There's a walker at the window. It stares at me with milky white eyes, its mouth opens hungrily. Then it collapses, revealing Emmett and his favorite knife. Em cleans the blade quickly before climbing into the car.

The icy blast that comes with him makes me shiver and burrow deeper into the covers, Alice groans beside me. She rolls over and resumes snoring.

I dress carefully beneath the covers before climbing over my sister and into the front seat next to Em.

After a few minutes of companionable silence, watching the sunrise, I blurt out, "So, what did you say to them?" Subtlety is not my strongest character trait.

Emmett grumbles something unintelligible. Regardless, he gets the point across.

"The big brother speech? Emmett, come on. We're not little girls anymore."

"He's so much older than her!" Emmett whisper yells.

I roll my eyes. "He's three years older than her. In this fucked up world, we should enjoy the things that make us happy. Jasper makes her happy, he takes care of her. What's so terrible about that?"

Emmett has finally turned to face me. He still doesn't seem particularly pleased with me, but he seems to be listening.

"He's a good guy." I continue, "They both are. Give them a chance."

I don't wait for a response, I've said all I need to and I want him to really think on it.

I get out of the car and limp my way over to the embers of last nights' fire. Walking is a bit easier every day.

I stir up the coals and add some kindling and a small log. We'll be leaving right after breakfast anyway, no need for a big fire.

I'm only reheating stew.

It isn't long before I'm cuddling a hot cup of mush, it smells and tastes alright, so I choke it down. A few of Em's group come over to introduce themselves. One boy, Josh, seems a bit overenthusiastic with his greeting and it makes me more than bit uncomfortable.

"This seat taken?" My heart stutters as I recognize the voice.

I turn away from Josh to glance over my shoulder, "No, go ahead. Good morning Edward."

He smiles at me, "Morning." and then glares at Josh as he takes the seat beside me. Josh says a quick see you later and departs. Apparently, subtlety is not one of Edward's best character traits either. I bite back a smile.

A few minutes pass as Edward chokes down his breakfast.

I jump right in as soon as he finishes his last bite. No time like the present. "You've been avoiding me." I'm just gonna get everything off my chest today.

Edward's face twists with horror, "Have you seen your brother? He's easily two of me." I smile at his unexpected joke.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you the other night. It was cold. I meant for you to get in the car and shut the door."

He chuckles adorably, "That's a pretty good excuse."

I gasp loudly and smack his arm, "It's not an excuse! Cold and I are not friends."

"Now you resort to physical violence to get your way?" Edward raises an eyebrow, making a show of rubbing his arm.

Embarrassment floods me and my cheeks redden. I hop up and rush back to the car as quickly as my injured limb allows.

I'm only a few feet away when my foot lands in a hole I didn't spot, my ankle twists and my calf screams. My knee buckles and I collapse. So much for my ankle getting better.

Just as my face and the side view mirror are about to be introduced in a violent fashion, a strong arm wraps around my waist and pulls me back.

Edward. Of course. I smirk, and then quickly school my features before he notices. Even as tears burn my eyes and my calf throbs in time with my racing heartbeat.

"I'm sorry. I was just joking." He really does look repentant.

I stick my tongue out at him childishly. "Gotcha."

And then his lips are on mine.

My stomach clenches and my lips burn. Everywhere he's touching me aches with an electric intensity that makes my toes curl.

It's over far too soon. When we break apart, I'm breathless, speechless. Edward just smiles at me, presses a kiss to my forehead, and then trots off to help Jasper break down their tent. I stay where I am, leaning against my car for several minutes, stunned.

This man will be the death of me.

The rear passenger door pops open and Alice emerges. Late riser as always.

She grins at me. "That was hot."

* * *

We decide to drive through the night with less than sixteen hours until we arrive in Forks, Washington; give or take a few to account for zeds, of course.

It's getting colder and more dangerous every day; we're running low on food but have managed to find plenty of fresh water and gasoline. We're in a hurry to find someplace safe to scavenge and maybe rest a few days before the trip to the island. Jasper and Edward have decided to come with us before setting off to Seattle to find their family. Maybe they'll come back to the island someday.

We take turns driving, switching drivers every few hours so the others can rest. I have first shift, Edward is riding behind me and has second shift. Emmett is in the front passenger seat with Alice behind him. She has the shortest legs, leaving the most room for Em's oversized self. Eli snoozes against my side, snuggled between Em and I.

Wedged between Ali and Edward is this obnoxious girl named Cherish. She's alone, lost both her parents and two younger siblings; she joined us with Em's group. I would feel sorry for her, if Cherish didn't have a knack for avoiding conflict, I've never seen her take out a zombie. In fact, when Zeds are around, I don't see Cherish at all.

Coward.

Wow. I am such a bitch.

Right now, Cherish is making a big show of snuggling against Edward as she tries to sleep. Edward keeps shrugging her off. I smile to myself and focus on the road.

Tomorrow morning, I will finally see my childhood home again.

* * *

Our progress slows dramatically after we cross the state line into Washington. It seems people are much more fortified here. We encounter many roadblocks and even several intact communities.

These we give a wide berth. We don't want to attract attention; we just want to get home.

Forks is nearly unrecognizable. Chain-link and barbed-wire fences crisscross the center of town, guarding trampled tents and numerous undead. Over half the town had burned to the ground.

Our street is still standing.

Seeing our modest little abode at the end of the street, boarded up and abandoned, breaks something in me. As I climb out of the car and step onto the curb, tears well in my eyes and spill down my cheeks.

A small, cool hand wraps around mine and I glance down into Eli's concerned gaze. I give him a half-assed watery smile.

Despite the attitude I give Alice, I never thought I'd see home again.

Emmett's standing in the driveway, grinning at the house before him, "I say we rest here a day or two, and then head out to the island." No one objects.

I use my key to go inside.

The first thing I see is the barrel of a very big gun.

* * *

_A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to all my US readers!_

_My work and social life have been busy, but I hope this helps answer w few questions. Lots of action next chapter, beware._

_One reviewer asked how old everyone is; I thought I'd answer here in case anyone else was wondering. During the "Beach in Florida" flashback, Emmett mentions his fifteen and sixteen-year-old sisters. I've also hinted at Emmett leaving Forks when he was eighteen and living in Florida two years before the girls visit him. That puts their present ages at Emmett, 22, Bella, 18, Alice 17._

_Jasper and Edward were away at the start of their first year at college, so it's probably fair to say they are both 20ish now._

_As always, hope you enjoy, and please review. :)_


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